[Baltimore Sun] Harford officials approve changes to agricultural land preservation program
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The Harford County Council voted Tuesday to approve modifications to the county’s Agricultural Land Preservation program, which include reducing the number of acres required to be admitted into the program and setting a timeline for landowner applications to be accepted.
Council President Patrick Vincenti and council members Tony Giordano, Aaron Penman, Dion Guthrie and Jacob Bennett voted to approve the updates; council member Jessica Boyle-Tsottles was absent.
“I think the modifications will allow … preservation efforts across the county, not just in one or two areas, and I think the citizens want to see more open space,” Vincenti said after the vote.
The changes now go to Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly for his approval.
The preservation program allows the county to contract with a landowner who wishes to preserve a property, exchanging a tax credit for the development rights to the property. Future residential, commercial and institutional development is limited on preserved properties. The program began in 1992 and the county so far has preserved 37,733 acres at a cost of $163 million. In the county’s fiscal 2024 budget, officials set aside $26.5 million for the agricultural land preservation program.
The changes aim to ease the program’s rigid standards and will lower the required acreage for land to be accepted into the program from 50 acres to 20. Parcels that are more than 10 acres but less than 20 would qualify only if they are adjacent to other properties already in the program that would add up to 20 acres or more. No property less than 10 acres and no property owned by homeowners’ associations would qualify for the Agricultural Land Preservation program.
Along with reducing the required size of eligible land, the bill also requires that 50% of a proposed property must consist of high-quality soil.
For a property to be preserved under the program, the land must already be zoned for residential, commercial, industrial or institutional development. If there are any concerns regarding being approved for preservation, the landowner must prove their property has potential for development uses.
Landowners will be able to submit preservation applications by a May 1 deadline, and acceptance into the program would be determined by July 1. The council would review and approve applicants by September. Preservation settlements to approved applicants would conclude by June 30 the next year.
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