Agenda 02-06-24; 8-f - Enhanced Voluntary and Voluntary Agricultural District Designation

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1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: February 6, 2024 Action Agenda Item No. 8-f SUBJECT: Enhanced Voluntary and Voluntary Agricultural District Designation — Multiple Farms DEPARTMENT: Environment, Agriculture, Parks & Recreation (DEAPR) — Soil and Water Conservation ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: 1) Applications and Maps Jessica Perrin, (919) 245-2753 Peter Sandbeck, (919) 245-2517 PURPOSE: To consider applications from two (2) landowners/farms to certify qualifying farmland within the Caldwell and High Rock/Efland Agricultural District Regions; and enroll the lands in the Orange County Farmland Preservation Program's Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural District or Voluntary Agricultural District program. BACKGROUND: Orange County's Voluntary Farmland Preservation Program was started in 1992. To date there are 151 farms in both the Voluntary Agricultural District (VAD) and the Enhanced Voluntary Agricultural District (EVAD) program — totaling 17,433 acres. 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. To be certified as qualifying farmland, a farm must: (1) Be located in the unincorporated area of Orange County; (2) Be used for bona fide farm purposes, as that term is defined in G.S. 106-743.4(a) and G.S. 160D-903; (3) Be in accordance with the minimum size requirements, which are as follows: (a) Consist of at least(i)one contiguous acre of land in production for horticultural or agricultural purposes; or(ii) at least twenty total acres of land under management for forestry; (b) In the event that a landowner has multiple tracts of qualifying farmland that are eligible, and those tracts are located within one mile or less of each other, then they may comprise a Voluntary Agricultural District. (4) Be managed in accordance with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and N.C. Division of Soil and Water Conservation defined erosion-control practices and have a current conservation farm plan and/or forestry management plan associated with the current usages and owner; and (5) Be the subject of a conservation agreement, as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 121-35, between the County and the owner of such land that prohibits non-farm use or development of such land for a period of at least