Tonight I attended a meeting of the Carbon County Farmland Preservation Board. This is the board that determines the ranking of farms to be preserved and can approve or disapprove applications.
Here’s the way the program works in Pennsylvania. After you apply, your farmland is appraised at the value it has as a farm and the value it would have if you subdivided and developed it. If you broke up the farm into lots and sold the lots, it would be more valuable than if you used the land for farming.
The value of the land for farming is then subtracted from the value of the land as subdivisions. You are offered the difference, and if you accept, your land is then considered farmland in perpetuity. You cannot subdivide, your heirs cannot subdivide, and if you sell the farm, the new buyers cannot subdivide. Your land will have a “deed restriction” for all time.
To qualify for the program you must have at least 50 acres unless your farm adjoins already preserved farmland, when the amount is 10 acres. Since our farm adjoined preserved farmland in the Beltzville State Park (which, ironically, was once part of the Christman farm), we qualified although we only had 13 acres. (We’ve since added another 10.)
Tonight at the meeting I learned that the amount of acres needed has been reduced from 50 to 35. This means that many more farms in Carbon County will be eligible for the program. That is very good news.
Interesting concept. I'm curious about the ability for these farms to be developed for fracking or for other mineral aquisitions? I would hope not. Seems to me that they should only used for farmland or be left fallow.
ReplyDeleteI believe the only structures allowed are buildings related to agriculture or one home for a close relative of the farmer--who must also farm. That would preclude fracking, although now the gas companies drill on a slant. I don't know if that would be allowed--no surface disturbance would occur. I have a feeling it would be allowed--especially in Pennsylvania.
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