Orange County NC Website
Page 4 Nov. -Dec. 2000 <br />farmland preservation report <br />California voters tally mixed <br />results on land protection <br />continued from page 3 <br />Ohio law precluded government entities from <br />holding easements. <br />The governor will request the state program <br />be structured to provide 75 percent of project costs <br />with localities providing a 25 percent local match, <br />which can be in the form of easement donation or <br />bargain sale, according to Wise. <br />California <br />California voters produced a real mixed bag of <br />decisions on measures involving tax increases or <br />bond issues for land protection. <br />Countywide measures surprisingly failed in <br />the ag powerhouse counties of Napa and Sonoma, <br />and in Placer and San Luis Obispo Counties. In <br />Placer County, which includes the northern half of <br />Lake Tahoe, a proposed dedicated sales tax in- <br />crease of one - quarter cent for 75,000 acres of open <br />space purchases and easements failed by 72.6 <br />percent of the vote. The increase would have <br />generated $200 million over 20 years. <br />In San Luis Obispo County, where residents <br />have become accustomed to innovative land <br />protection schemes including a transfer of devel- <br />opment credits program to save critical coastal <br />spaces, 59 percent of voters rejected the idea of <br />having the final say in whether agricultural lands <br />are rezoned. <br />Sonoma County ranks fifth nationally for <br />farmland acres preserved and first in the amount <br />of money available for preservation, but voters . <br />rejected a plan by the Greenbelt Alliance to freeze <br />zoning for 30 years, preventing changes unless <br />voters approve them. The measure was voted <br />down by 57.4 percent of the vote. However, the <br />city of Sonoma approved an urban growth bound- <br />ary by 63.5 percent. <br />Statewide, urban growth boundary (UGB) <br />measures fared moderately, with just five of nine <br />approved. <br />Californians may not have felt urgent about <br />local land protection, since last March, in the <br />state's primary election, they approved bond <br />issues totaling $2 billion for watershed protection, <br />parks, clean water, clean air and coastal protec- <br />tion. The measure allocated $25 million for farm- <br />land preservation. <br />According to the California Planning and <br />Development Report, 21 of 34 "slow growth" <br />measures on local ballots passed and 13 of 22 <br />"pro- growth" measures were defeated, making <br />sloe growth proponents the victors in 34 of 55 <br />measures, or 62 percent. However, the failed <br />Sonoma and San Luis Obispo measures were <br />closely watched and noted as serious losses. <br />Rhode Island <br />Rhode Island voters approved a $34 million <br />bond issue for land conservation, but just $5 <br />million will go to the farmland preservation <br />program, according to program director Ken <br />Ayers. However, Ayers said, "the other monies <br />can be used to protect farms for other purposes," <br />such as open space. <br />Rhode Island's farmland preservation pro- <br />gram has consistently lagged behind neighbor <br />states in funding and implementing farmland <br />protection. It's last allocation of $2 million didn't <br />go far. <br />Perhaps the larger measure of success in the <br />state was the passage of all 12 local measures that <br />were placed on town ballots for open space and <br />farmland protection, totaling $17 million. Several <br />of the measures mentioned purchase of develop- <br />ment rights and agricultural preservation. <br />"What that means for us is that our $5 million <br />will go a lot further," Ayers said. <br />Other states <br />In Colorado, open space and ranchland protec- <br />tion is conducted by Great Outdoors Colorado <br />(GOCO), a quasi - governmental agency through <br />grants to organizations from lottery proceeds, but <br />there is no state program for agricultural lands <br />specifically. With 15 local land protection meas- <br />continue to page 5 <br />