Agenda - 08-03-1992 - Laserfiche WebLink

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M61 PROPOSED ORDINANCE AMENDMENT ORDINANCE: Voluntary Farmland Preservation Ordinance REFERENCE: Section V.B.1.a. and b. ORIGIN OF AMENDMENT: _8 Staff Planning Board BOCC Citizen STAFF PRIORITY RECOMMENDATION: _8 High Middle Law PUBLIC HEARING DATE: August 24, 1992 PURPOSE OF AMENDMENT: To reduce the minimum required acreage for designation as a voluntary agricultural district from 155 to 80 acres. The change would recognize the role that smaller farms play in the agricultural economy, and, by permitting two or more contiguous farms to join together, allow farms as small as 40 acres to participate. IMPACTS /ISSUES: When the Voluntary Farmland Preservation Program Ordinance was enacted in March, the minimum size of an agricultural district was set at: 1. At least 155 contiguous acres of certified qualifying farmland; or 2. At least two or more certified qualifying farms, contiguous to each other, which will create a district of not less than 155 acres. Since the adoption of the ordinance, 13 applications have been received by the Planning Department. Of these, all may be certified as gualifying farmland, but only three applications contain sufficient acreage (at least 155 acres) to be designated as a voluntary agricultural district. A fourth application may be eligible for designation, but questions exist regarding ownership and size of the farm. A fifth application involves 150.5 acres and is only 4.5 acres short of qualifying for designation. The rationale for using the 155 -acre threshold was the figure represented the average farm size in Orange County according to the 1987 Census of Agriculture. Historically, Orange County and the counties surrounding it have demonstrated a general trend toward increasing farm size. The same holds true for counties which have adopted PDR programs (Wake, Forsyth, and Mecklenburg) and those with voluntary agricultural district programs (Buncombe and Rowan). Buncombe County, with an average farm size of 87 acres, requires a total of 100 acres of contiguous qualifying farmland for designation as an agricultural district. Rowan County requires 200 acres and has an average farm size of 131 acres. In both counties, two or more farms totaling 100 and 200 acres, respectively, may form a district if the farms are within one mile of each other. Orange County's ordinance requires that the farms be contiguous.