|
t3 J
<br />"People tend to think farms are not need-
<br />ed in urban areas, so they ignore them until
<br />it is too late, relying on the idea that farms
<br />elsewhere are enough," said Don Stuart, di-
<br />rector of AFT's Pacific Northwest Regional
<br />Office. "Without planning, farmlands get so
<br />fragmented in urban areas they are subject to
<br />increasing conflicts from surrounding non -
<br />farmers and are placed under greater pres-
<br />sure" to convert out of agricultural use.
<br />Effective plans include land use policies
<br />and programs to keep land available and af-
<br />fordable for farming, such as purchase of de-
<br />velopment rights (PDR) programs and
<br />agricultural districts. They also include eco-
<br />nomic development tools to make farming
<br />profitable, such as direct marketing, value -
<br />added processing and agri- tourism.
<br />"Planning for agriculture is as important
<br />as planning for development," said Jill
<br />Schwartz, AFT's marketing director. "Effec-
<br />tive plans help make farming economically
<br />viable and environmentally sustainable. And
<br />when that happens, communities benefit
<br />from the multiple values of farming jobs for
<br />local residents, wildlife habitat, scenic vistas
<br />and community character."
<br />Vibrant farms located on the urban
<br />edge can infuse local economies with new
<br />life. Thriving farmers' markets, bustling
<br />farmstands and popular tourism opportuni-
<br />ties such as autumn pumpkin harvest festi-
<br />vals can circulate new dollars in a
<br />community and link non - farmers with local
<br />sources of food.
<br />"When counties think about planning,
<br />they often take a map of the county and start
<br />restricting different land uses" said Gerry
<br />Cohn, director of AFT's Southeast Regional
<br />Office. "When we look at the word `plan-
<br />ning' in broader sense, we need to think
<br />about a vision for the future that includes
<br />agricultural economic development as well
<br />as land use policies."
<br />Farmers, he said, need to remain confi-
<br />dent that agriculture will remain a vibrani
<br />industry in a community well into the fix'
<br />ture. "If there's no vision of being profitable
<br />on the farmers' part, there's no reason tc
<br />stay in fanning."
<br />Saratoga County, New York
<br />Saratoga County is a picturesque collection
<br />of upstate New York towns set among horse
<br />farms, dairies and apple orchards. However,
<br />threats to what has been, historically, an agri-
<br />culturally important county stem to the
<br />1960s, when Interstate -87 created a straight
<br />shot to New York City and Montreal.
<br />AMERICAN FARMLAND SUMMER 2003
<br />"When (I -87) was completed in the mid
<br />160s, our little ag county of 80,000 became
<br />home to suburbia," Larry Benton, Saratoga
<br />County planner, said.
<br />Since then, the county has lost 130,000
<br />acres of farmland to development to accom-
<br />modate New York's second - fastest- growing
<br />population. County leaders, however, fully
<br />aware of the $100 million agriculture annual-
<br />ly pumps into the local economy, and recog-
<br />nizing its importance to the county's quality
<br />of life and scenic views, stepped up with a
<br />far - reaching plan that ultimately resulted in a
<br />county- funded -PDR program as well as an
<br />agricultural economic development pro-
<br />gram. To tap into AFT's 22 -plus years of ex-
<br />perience in planning for agriculture, the
<br />county hired AFT to write the plan. AFT
<br />also is helping to implement the plan. For .ex-
<br />ample, after the plan was created, AFT con-
<br />ducted a public opinion poll that showed
<br />that 79 percent of the county's voters favor
<br />PDR. The county supervisors' decision to
<br />earmark $1 million for PDR was influenced
<br />by the poll results.
<br />By 1992 just 13.5 percent of the county
<br />remained in farming; by 2000, the county's
<br />population reached 200,000. "That's the
<br />pressure," Benton said. "Our reaction has
<br />been a county plan calling for preservation of
<br />agriculture and directed growth into the
<br />Northway corridor."
<br />Since the 1970s Saratoga has supported
<br />agricultural districts, which create a host of
<br />protections for farmers, such as favorable tax
<br />assessments and protection from "nuisance"
<br />complaints. Some of the county's 19 towns,
<br />each with the zoning power of home rule,
<br />have exercised their authority to set local
<br />land use policies that preserve farmland and
<br />open space. Several of them are considering
<br />offering PDR funds that allow farmers to vol-
<br />untarily sell their development rights, and
<br />more than a dozen have adopted "right -to-
<br />farm laws" that protect farmers' abilities to
<br />conduct day -to -day agricultural activities.
<br />In the 1970s the county created an agri-
<br />cultural districts advisory panel made up of
<br />business people, county officials and farm-
<br />ers, expanding it under a 1992 state law that
<br />also opened up grants opportunities for for-
<br />mal agricultural and farmland protection
<br />boards. Four years later the panel created an
<br />integrated plan to protect agriculture that
<br />features such recommendations as:
<br />a countywide right -to -farm law;
<br />a county PDR program;
<br />a public education campaign to raise
<br />awareness about the importance of
<br />agriculture in Saratoga;
<br />encouragement to towns to adopt
<br />"farmer - friendly" land use laws, includ-
<br />ing conservation- oriented development
<br />that clusters residential and commer-
<br />cial building; and
<br />innovative economic development
<br />opportunities for farmers.
<br />As an ex- officio member of the farmland
<br />protection board and the architect of the
<br />Plan, AFT served as a resource for Saratoga
<br />15
<br />I, III
<br />I � III
<br />' �X' j - rJ'"i )
<br />r.�•F .• +� �` 4' � �
<br />i�,
<br />III
<br />-�., tN V H •Yi' lL 21. -I ��
<br />r¢' y�y {, �aq.��.�i
<br />��.
<br />Saratoga County, New York
<br />Saratoga County is a picturesque collection
<br />of upstate New York towns set among horse
<br />farms, dairies and apple orchards. However,
<br />threats to what has been, historically, an agri-
<br />culturally important county stem to the
<br />1960s, when Interstate -87 created a straight
<br />shot to New York City and Montreal.
<br />AMERICAN FARMLAND SUMMER 2003
<br />"When (I -87) was completed in the mid
<br />160s, our little ag county of 80,000 became
<br />home to suburbia," Larry Benton, Saratoga
<br />County planner, said.
<br />Since then, the county has lost 130,000
<br />acres of farmland to development to accom-
<br />modate New York's second - fastest- growing
<br />population. County leaders, however, fully
<br />aware of the $100 million agriculture annual-
<br />ly pumps into the local economy, and recog-
<br />nizing its importance to the county's quality
<br />of life and scenic views, stepped up with a
<br />far - reaching plan that ultimately resulted in a
<br />county- funded -PDR program as well as an
<br />agricultural economic development pro-
<br />gram. To tap into AFT's 22 -plus years of ex-
<br />perience in planning for agriculture, the
<br />county hired AFT to write the plan. AFT
<br />also is helping to implement the plan. For .ex-
<br />ample, after the plan was created, AFT con-
<br />ducted a public opinion poll that showed
<br />that 79 percent of the county's voters favor
<br />PDR. The county supervisors' decision to
<br />earmark $1 million for PDR was influenced
<br />by the poll results.
<br />By 1992 just 13.5 percent of the county
<br />remained in farming; by 2000, the county's
<br />population reached 200,000. "That's the
<br />pressure," Benton said. "Our reaction has
<br />been a county plan calling for preservation of
<br />agriculture and directed growth into the
<br />Northway corridor."
<br />Since the 1970s Saratoga has supported
<br />agricultural districts, which create a host of
<br />protections for farmers, such as favorable tax
<br />assessments and protection from "nuisance"
<br />complaints. Some of the county's 19 towns,
<br />each with the zoning power of home rule,
<br />have exercised their authority to set local
<br />land use policies that preserve farmland and
<br />open space. Several of them are considering
<br />offering PDR funds that allow farmers to vol-
<br />untarily sell their development rights, and
<br />more than a dozen have adopted "right -to-
<br />farm laws" that protect farmers' abilities to
<br />conduct day -to -day agricultural activities.
<br />In the 1970s the county created an agri-
<br />cultural districts advisory panel made up of
<br />business people, county officials and farm-
<br />ers, expanding it under a 1992 state law that
<br />also opened up grants opportunities for for-
<br />mal agricultural and farmland protection
<br />boards. Four years later the panel created an
<br />integrated plan to protect agriculture that
<br />features such recommendations as:
<br />a countywide right -to -farm law;
<br />a county PDR program;
<br />a public education campaign to raise
<br />awareness about the importance of
<br />agriculture in Saratoga;
<br />encouragement to towns to adopt
<br />"farmer - friendly" land use laws, includ-
<br />ing conservation- oriented development
<br />that clusters residential and commer-
<br />cial building; and
<br />innovative economic development
<br />opportunities for farmers.
<br />As an ex- officio member of the farmland
<br />protection board and the architect of the
<br />Plan, AFT served as a resource for Saratoga
<br />15
<br />
|