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APB agenda 122000
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APB agenda 122000
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Date
12/20/2000
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Regular Meeting
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Agenda
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Nov. - Dec. 2000 Page 3 <br />farmland preservation report <br />Local ballots, continued from page 2 <br />In Bucks County, two townships, Hilltown <br />and Springfield, approved income tax increases <br />and one township, Upper Makefield, approved a <br />$15 million bond issue, the largest spending <br />approval in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. <br />"I think most of it is for farmland — parkland is <br />not as high a priority," said Rich Harvey, adminis- <br />trator for the Bucks County farmland preservation <br />program. Upper Makefield has a track record of <br />pursuing farmland protection, he said. <br />The Bucks County program has preserved <br />4,500 acres on the fringes of Philadelphia where a <br />$10,000 per -acre cap was established to limit costs. <br />Three years ago the program got $13.5 million <br />from a $59 million bond issue, of which $5.8 <br />million was allocated last year along with $3.5 <br />million from the general fund. The county pro- <br />gram currently has $7.5 million. <br />"We have a lot of money, but it's hard to keep <br />up. We're really short staffed here at the planning <br />commission," Harvey said, with four or five <br />planner vacancies. <br />New Jersey <br />New Jersey clearly won the local initiative <br />sweepstakes, with 45 localities voting to spend <br />money on open space and farmland preservation. <br />Only one locality with a land protection referen- <br />dum rejected the measure. At least one -third of <br />the measures specifically mentioned farmland <br />preservation. <br />However, "nearly all the measures are for both <br />farmland and open space," said Steve Jandoli of <br />the state's Green Acres Program. Sussex County <br />was more explicit, designating 90 percent of funds <br />for farmland, he said. According to Jandoli, 19 of <br />the state's 21 counties now have dedicated reve- <br />nues for open space acquisition, as well as 144 of <br />566 municipalities. <br />Countywide initiatives were also passed in <br />Gloucester, Camden and Union Counties. Two <br />established new taxes <br />In Burlington County, the state's most aggres- <br />sive in farmland protection, seven townships <br />passed local measures supporting open space and <br />farmland protection, six using a dedicated portion <br />of the property tax, and one, Mansfield, approving <br />a bond issue of $1 million for open space and <br />farmland preservation. <br />Two years ago, New Jersey voters approved <br />the nation's largest land preservation fund — $1.4 <br />billion in bond money over 10 years. With an <br />ambitious goal of preserving a million acres in 10 <br />years, the money is split between the state farm- <br />land preservation program, administered by the <br />State Agricultural Development Committee and <br />the Green Acres Program. <br />Ohio <br />Ohio voters approved $200 million for conser- <br />vation initiatives and $200 million for brownfields <br />revitalization projects. The Clean Ohio Fund, a <br />bond act, passed by 57 percent of the vote. A <br />campaign chaired by Gov. Bob Taft and U.S. Sen. <br />John Glenn promoted passage of the act, and more <br />than 200 organizations statewide endorsed it. <br />According to a campaign press release, the <br />$400 million fund will be used for "locally driven <br />projects such as protecting Ohio's water, revitaliz- <br />ing urban areas by stimulating new investment in <br />blighted neighborhoods, expanding outdoor <br />recreational opportunities and preventing the loss <br />of valuable farmland through voluntary agricul- <br />tural easements." <br />The next step, according to Howard Wise of <br />the Ohio Farmland Preservation Office, is for the <br />General Assembly to pass implementing legisla- <br />tion. <br />"Gov. Bob Taft will ask the legislature to <br />earmark $25 million for a pilot agriculture ease- <br />ment purchase program," he said. Ohio's program <br />is already established, but will receive its first <br />funds through the bond act. The $25 million will <br />be spread over four years. Taft originally pro- <br />posed the open space and farmland preservation <br />fund in November 1998 when he was governor - <br />elect, following passage of legislation that author- <br />ized PDR. In 1996, proponents discovered that <br />please turn to page 4 <br />
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