Agenda - 02-02-2010 - 4j; VAD - Woods Family Farm

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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: February 2, 2010 Action Agenda , Item No. ~I SUBJECT: Voluntary Agricultural District Designation: Woods Family Farm DEPARTMENT: Environment and Resource PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No Conservation ATTACHMENT(S): 1) Application 2) ERCD Staff Memo & Vicinity Map 3) Certification from NRCS, Soil Analysis Chart & Map 4) Certification from Tax Supervisor 5) Conservation Agreement with Exhibit A & Exhibit B INFORMATION CONTACT: David Stancil, 245-2510 Tina Moon, 210-2595 PURPOSE: To consider an application from the Woods family to certify their farm as qualifying farmland within the Caldwell Voluntary Agricultural District. BACKGROUND: The Woods family has applied to have their farm designated as a certified qualifying farm for the Caldwell Voluntary Agricultural District. The property is located in eastern Cedar Grove Township, along the north and south sides of Pearson Road. The County's Voluntary Farmland Protection Ordinance (VFPO) outlines a procedure for the Agricultural Preservation Board 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 (VAD). To be certified as qualifying farmland, a farm must: 1. Consist of a minimum of 20 contiguous acres; 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; 3. Be certified by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) of the United States Department of Agriculture as being a farm on which at least two-thirds of the land is composed of soils that: a. Are best suited for providing food, seed, fiber, forage, timber, forestry products, horticultural crops and oil seed crops;