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11.01.2007
By Tamara Scully
AFP Correspondent
Newton — Sussex County’s Agricultural Development Board recently held a program presentation focusing on the new state requirements for farmland preservation, and the county’s updated plan to meet these regulations.
With guest speaker Barbara Davis of the Morris Land Conservancy, the board previewed the county’s draft update to its farmland preservation plan and invited public comment.
Board chairwoman Jane Brodhecker opened the presentation by commenting that “ag is an extremely important industry in our county.”
That statement was supported by the numbers, which show that Sussex County has preserved 9,468 acres of farmland with an additional 2,894 acres pending closing in 2007.
That total, 12,362 acres, is about half of the targeted 25,000 acres the county hopes to ultimately preserve.
The Morris Land Conservancy was hired by the county to help draft an updated farmland preservation plan to meet the state’s new guidelines for farm eligibility.
New rules require that each county designate agricultural development areas.
These areas have to meet certain requirements to prove that they are capable of preserving agriculture, such as soil type, farm size and existing agricultural use.
The county’s comprehensive plan includes data on soils, industry economics, grants, sustainability and agritourism.
It also highlights the existing farmland preservation program in the county and identifies the new agricultural development areas.
The state requires that the county designate eligible farms that comprise smaller project areas within the agricultural development area.
Ten smaller project areas, which are deemed “priorities for preservation,” were designated in Sussex County.
Davis explained that the county is interested in maximizing the funding available from the state for farmland preservation.
In order to do so, the plan had to take into consideration three criteria: Soils, tillable acreage and development potential.
In Sussex County, a broad approach was taken concerning tillable soils, including uses such as nurseries and Christmas tree farms, and therefore expanding the number of acres that could meet the criteria.
The limiting factor was the soil.
With only 11,585 acres of soil deemed capable of supporting agriculture, the Conservancy managed to merge the soil criteria with existing agricultural use base and found 14,050 acres that would now meet eligibility criteria under the new state guidelines.
Donna Traylor, coordinator of the Sussex County Office of Conservation and Farmland Preservation, explained that the designated agricultural development zone was designed to “try to help the most farmers” and to “sustain a large enough agricultural base ... and hopefully encourage ancillary farm businesses.”
Traylor explained that the agricultural development area includes the bulk of the farmland-assessed land in the county.
The designated agricultural development area was also determined by removing areas with existing sewers and areas designated as “centers.”
Public open space and lake communities were removed from consideration.
The resulting land base was then considered, and 82 percent of the existing farmland assessed land in the county has been included in the agricultural development area.
“The agriculture development area does not include the town of Newton, any of the boroughs, Byram and Walpack Townships.
“All other farm-assessed properties in the other municipalities are in included in the ADA. Also within the ADA we have removed land in an existing sewer service area or a designated center,” Traylor explained.
“The idea is to streamline the farmland preservation process,” Davis said.
The crowd of a dozen citizens was not quite the turnout that the CADB hoped to generate. The state deadline for plan submission is Dec. 15.
Sussex County will meet the deadline and should have the plan accepted by the state without incident. Those wishing to learn more about the plan can contact Donna Traylor at 973-579-0500 or via e-mail at: dtraylor@sussex.nj.us.
In closing, Davis emphasized that the MLC is interested in conserving natural resources, and that the Garden State Preservation Trust Fund is where the money for Farmland Preservation originates.
The Trust has run out of money, and the MLC is urging all voters to “Keep it Green” and to vote “yes” to question 3 on the election ballot.
“The goal is to preserve the land, to preserve the farming community,” Davis said.