Agenda - 09-06-2012 - 5g; VAD - Parker Farm

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1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: September 6, 2012 Action Agenda Item No. 5-g SUBJECT: Voluntary Agricultural District Designation — Parker Farm DEPARTMENT: Environment, Agriculture, PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No Parks and Recreation ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACTS: Application and Vicinity Map David Stancil, 245-2510 Certification from NRCS, Soil Analysis Gail Hughes, 245-2750 Chart & Maps Certification from Tax Office Draft APB Meeting Summary - May 16, 2012 PURPOSE: To consider an application from the Parker family to certify qualifying farmland within the Caldwell voluntary agricultural district, and enroll the lands in the Voluntary Agricultural District program. BACKGROUND: Owners of the Parker farm have submitted an application to enroll six parcels of their farm totaling 293 acres on Laws Store, Tilley and Hester Roads as qualifying farmland for the County's Voluntary Agricultural District (VAD) program. As the Board may recall, Orange County has had a Voluntary Farmland Preservation Program since 1992. To date, 17 farms have enrolled in the Voluntary Agricultural District (VAD) program, totaling 3,004 acres within the seven districts comprising the non-urban portions of the County. The County's Voluntary Farmland Protection Ordinance (VFPO) outlines a procedure for the Agricultural Preservation Board (APB) to review and approve applications for qualifying farmland, and to make recommendations to the Board of Commissioners concerning the establishment and modification of agricultural districts. Section VII of the VFPO contains the requirements for inclusion in a voluntary agricultural district. To be certified as qualifying farmland, a farm must: 1. Consist of the minimum number of contiguous acres to participate in the present-use- value taxation program (20 acres for forestry, 10 for agriculture and 5 for horticulture); 2. Be participating in the farm present-use-value taxation program established by N.C.G.S. §105-277.2 through §105-277.7, or is otherwise determined by the county to meet all the qualifications of this program set forth in G.S. 105-277.3;