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03 <br />b. Voluntary Agricultural District Application -Don Johnson <br />Farm <br />Stancil reviewed the application and supporting materials for the Johnson <br />Voluntary Agricultural District Application. Staff recommended that the 10 -acre <br />tract (TMBL #5.12..15A) be excluded from the VAD since it is not contiguous with <br />the larger acreage. It was noted that the other two contiguous parcels totaled <br />160 acres and met the criteria for a Voluntary Agricultural District. <br />MOTION: Walters motioned approval of the Johnson VAD application and to <br />be forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners for <br />establishment of a VAD. <br />Seconded by Ranells. <br />VOTE: Unanimous <br />C. Recommendation on Triangle GreenPrint <br />Stancil reviewed the February 25th presentation on the Triangle GreenPrint <br />Report. The APB supports Greenprint's effort to coordinate regional open space <br />planning across the Triangle <br />After discussion the members decided to forward a memo to the BOCC including <br />the following concerns: <br />1. The Greenprint should be developed using a broad set of agricultural <br />stakeholders to develop priorities for farmland preservation. We suggest <br />using Agricultural Preservation Boards where they exist (Orange, Durham <br />and Chatham counties all have boards), as well as other organized <br />agricultural support groups to identify critical farmland areas. From our <br />understanding of the process to date, only a few representatives or a <br />limited number of groups have been involved in the identification of these <br />areas. <br />2. There is a need to develop common definitions and criteria for the <br />categories of land in the Greenprint, and to identify lands of regional value <br />with enough specificity to enable voluntary protection and preservation of <br />specific critical lands when opportunities arise. The existing Greenprint <br />document is somewhat vague in its identification of these areas for <br />farmland and forestland, and the definitions and criteria for farmland and <br />forestland are not clear. <br />3. We concur with the goal of the Greenprint to encourage each County to <br />become aware of critical areas and to take steps to protect such areas as <br />they deem appropriate. However, future mechanisms or <br />recommendations from the Greenprint should not work to diminish any <br />individual county's own efforts to be proactive in identifying and protecting <br />these sites — as some counties (like Orange) already have active and <br />successful programs toward this end. <br />2 <br />