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Orange County Goals: March 1992 Page 3 <br />It is, we believe, unwise to go into the budget cycle with a preset <br />goal of no change in the CHCCS district tax rate". The goai in this area <br />ould be to meet the real education needs of each district. What if <br />adjusting the CHCCS district tax were the best option, or the only option of <br />meeting real needs? Why is achieving an Orange County district tax, which <br />could be slowly raised to meet the CHCCS district tax, not an option? It is <br />hard to view this item, given the background in which it has been set, as <br />really being about "equity ". <br />D. Farmland Preservation Program: The state legislation allowing the <br />creation of farmland preservation districts began in Orange County, in part <br />because the pressure of development on farmland is acute in our county. It <br />is past time that Orange County should have an active program of farmland <br />preservation and the Commissioners should be commended for reviving and <br />supporting the Agricultural Districts Advisory Board. While many purposes <br />may be served by farmland preservation, the fundamental goal should be to <br />save viable farming communities. The charge to address "farmlands visible <br />from the road from major thoroughfares" confuses several issues. Farmland <br />preservation is not greenway creation, open space preservation, provision of <br />possible future recreational land, or entrance way beautification. For it to <br />be farmland preservation, the land should be a part of viable rural farming <br />communities. Experience elsewhere has shown that just saving farmland <br />here or there does nothing to preserve farms. Farms are only viable as <br />businesses- -which they must be in order to survive - -when they are near <br />other farms, farm suppliers, equipment repair shops, markets, etc. Farms <br />exist in a nexus, not in isolation. The NC statute wisely requires the <br />creation of agricultural districts, so that farms are clustered in a way that <br />makes survival possible. <br />I urge the Board to proceed with helping to create agricultural <br />districts which may preserve viable farms, and hence farmland. Some of the <br />land so preserved Ma <br />y also be useful, in the short and /or long run, as open <br />space, wildlife corridors, watershed, etc. The Board should also consider <br />other means of preserving land for other uses through zoning, easements, <br />purchase, etc. <br />Thank you for your consideration of these comments. <br />i <br />Sincerely, <br />Allen Spalt <br />