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Agenda - 06-23-2005-9e
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Agenda - 06-23-2005-9e
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Last modified
8/29/2008 6:56:20 PM
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8/29/2008 10:33:57 AM
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BOCC
Date
6/23/2005
Document Type
Agenda
Agenda Item
9e
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Minutes - 20050623
(Linked To)
Path:
\Board of County Commissioners\Minutes - Approved\2000's\2005
ORD-2005-120 - Proposed Revisions to Voluntary Farmland Protection Ordinance (VFPO)
(Linked From)
Path:
\Board of County Commissioners\Ordinances\Ordinance 2000-2009\2005
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18 <br />Orange County <br />Environment ~sz Resource Conservation <br />306_A Revere Road. / PO Uox 8181. <br />H.illsbonnt~h, NC 27278 <br />Phone: (919) 245-?590, Fax: (919) 644-3.351 <br />MEMORANDl1M <br />TO: Board of Commissioners <br /> John Link, County Manager <br />FROM: David Stancil, Environment and Resource Conservation Director <br />DATE: June 23, 2005 <br />RE: Voluntary Farmland Preservation Ordinance <br />In 1985 the State of North Carolina passed the Farmland Enabling Act authorizing counties to <br />establish local farmland preservation programs and, specifically, Voluntary Agricultural District <br />(VAD) programs. Orange County, one of the first counties to take advantage of the new <br />legislation, adopted its Voluntary Farmland Preservation ordinance (VFPO) in 1992, During the <br />next twenty years from 1992-2002, 1,600 acres were enrolled due to the active efforts of many <br />farm families interested in farmland preservation. A total of 2,045 acres are currently enrolled, <br />While a handful of other counties around the state adopted like ordinances, for the most part the <br />voluntary program across the state did not see much activity, However, in the last few years, <br />this program has undergone a renaissance of sorts, with a new model ordinance developed by <br />the program staff an NCSU. Many counties have recently adopted voluntary farmland <br />preservation ordinances and have implemented more "friendly" standards, based on the new <br />model, yielding much greater levels of participation in the thousands of acres,. <br />Farms enrolled in the Voluntary Agricultural District program must be certified as qualifying <br />farmland and participate in the Use Value tax program. Farm owners wishing to participate then <br />sign anon-binding 10-year conservation agreement that prohibits non-farm use, In exchange, <br />farms receive a participation sign, protection against nuisance suits (1/2-mile radius notification <br />to new buyers), waiver of any future water and sewer assessments and connection charges <br />(until such time as they connect to said service), requirement of a public hearing prior to <br />condemnation of lands by State or local governments, and consideration as a conservation area <br />in review of adjoining new developments. <br />In 2003, the Agricultural Preservation Board (APB) proposed amending the County's program to <br />incorporate elements of the new model. Members voiced concern over the acreage <br />requirement (80-acre minimum in the current ordinance), which prevents small farms and new <br />alternative/organic operations -most of whom operate under this acreage threshold -from <br />participating in the program. The APB also examined the actual statutory language, the new <br />model ordinance and the potential for confusion over the definition of key terms, particularly <br />"voluntary agricultural district." In the early ordinances (including Orange County's), a district <br /> <br />
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