Agenda - 08-21-2007-3b; VAD - John Pope Farm

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ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: August 21, 2007 Action Agenda Item No. _-~j_ SUBJECT: Voluntary Agricultural District Designation: John Pope Farms, LLC DEPARTMENT: Environment and Resource PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No Conservation ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: 1) Application 2) ERCD Staff Memo, Vicinity Map 3) Certification from NRCS & Soils Maps David Stancil, ERC Director, 245-2590 4) Certification from Tax Supervisor 5) Memo to Agricultural Preservation Board (APB) 6) Results of Vote -Memo from APB Secretary July 5, 2007 PURPOSE: To consider an application from John Pope for certification as qualifying farmland within the Cedar Grove Voluntary Agricultural District. BACKGROUND: John Pope, owner of the 65-acre John Pope Farms, LLC, located along the west side of NC Hwy 86 North in Cedar Grove Township (TMBL# 2.26..15), has applied to have his property designated as a certified qualifying farm for the Cedar Grove Voluntary Agricultural District. The County's adopted Voluntary Farmland Protection Ordinance (VFPO) outlines a procedure for the Agricultural Preservation Board to review and approve applications for qualifying farmland, and 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 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 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; b. Have good soil qualities;