30

FARMLAND PRESERVATION

LehighandNorthamptoncountieshavesomeofthebestfarmlandinPennsylvania.Thislandisbeingconverted to housing, commercial and industrial usesatarateof3.5squaremilesperyear.Hous-ingaccountsforabout80%ofthislandconversion.Map 9 illustrates the location of prime agricultural soils and the urban uses located on them in the year2000.ItisevidentthatmostagriculturalpartsoftheLehighValleyareunderintensedevelopmentpressure.

LehighValleyresidentsthinkpreservingfarmlandisimportant.The1999LVPCvoterattitudesurveyshows 91.4% of the voters favored preservingfarmland.InApril1999,thePennsylvaniaGeneralAssembly included$43million in thebudget forfarmlandpreservation.Thisamountsupplementsthe1987$100millionbondissueandotherfund-ing.Voters inLehighandNorthamptoncountieshave strongly supported open space and farmland preservation bond issues.

Farmland preservation efforts in this region have beenpickingupmomentum.Theseeffortshavemostly focused on agricultural easement acquisi-tionby thecounties.Map10showsagriculturaleasements acquired and agricultural security ar-easasofMarch2010.AtthattimeLehighCountyreported30.2squaremilesoflandinagriculturaleasements. Northampton County reported 17.2squaremiles.Agriculturalsecurityareashavebeendesignatedinbothcountieson110squaremilesofland.Inordertoqualifyfortheagriculturaleasementprogram land must be in an agricultural security area which is created under voluntary agreements between the property owner and the municipal-ity. Under the agricultural easement program the propertyownersellsrightstodeveloplandfornon-agriculturalpurposestothecounty.Thepropertyowner continues to own the land and farm it.

Thirty-three square miles of land are protectedbyagriculturaleasements.Thisaccountsforonly6.6%ofthelandintheLehighValley.Approximately15%ofthelandiscoveredbyagriculturalsecurityagreements.Clearly,thecountiesandmunicipali-tiesintheLehighValleyhavealongwaytogoiftheyintendtopreserveasignificantamountoflandfor agriculture in the future.

Municipalities can preserve farmland through lo-calzoningcontrols.Tobeeffectivethesecontrolsmust exclude uses other than agriculture, farmresidences and accessory uses in agricultural ar-eas and they must curtail subdivision development. Effectivezoningpracticeshavenotbeenpopularin the LehighValley. Only four municipalities inLehighCounty(LynnTownship,HeidelbergTown-ship,LowerMacungieTownshipandUpperSauconTownship)haveeffectiveagriculturalzoning.

Map11illustratesthefarmlandpreservationplanfortheLehighValley.Areasshownonthisplanhavethe followingcharacteristics: (1)aconcentrationofprimefarmlandasdefinedbythePennsylvaniaMunicipalitiesPlanningCodeandsoilsurveydata,(2) concentration of properties designated asAgriculturalSecurityAreas in2004, (3)clustersof farms that have been preserved for farming under the county agricultural easement program. Notallproperties inareasdepictedon themapare covered by agricultural security agreements oragriculturaleasements.Itisassumedthattheareas depicted are the most likely locations for such designation in the future.

InLehighCounty,mostofLynnandHeidelbergshouldbepreservedforfarming.MuchofLowerMilfordandWeisenberg,andpartsofUpperandLowerMacungie,UpperMilford,UpperSaucon,LowhillandWashingtonalsoshouldbesavedforfarming.

NorthamptonCountyalsohasareaswherefarm-landpreservationshouldbeencouraged.Someofthe best soils in the region occur in the area from AllenTownshiptotheDelawareRiveratRivertoninLowerMt.BethelTownship.TherearesizableareasinMoore,EastAllen,Plainfield,Washington,andUpperandLowerMt.Bethelwherefarmingshouldremainastheprimarylanduse.SouthoftheLe-highRiver,theStoutsValleyinWilliamsTownshipshouldremaininfarming.Othertownshipswhichinclude areas recommended for farmland pres-ervationincludeLehigh,Allen,UpperandLowerNazareth,andrelativelysmallareasinBethlehemandBushkilltownships.Itwillbedifficulttosavemuch farmland in Northampton County unlessmunicipalitiesadoptstrongagriculturalzoningand

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35

the county puts adequate money into the agricul-tural easement program.

Goal

To preserve approximately 25% of the land in Le-high and Northampton counties for agriculture.

Policies

• Supporteffectiveagriculturalzoning,agricul-tural security areas, and purchase of agricul-tural easements in areas where farming is the recommended land use.

• Preserve large contiguous clusters of farm-land in areas that have not been substantially urbanized.

• Discouragetheextensionofwaterandsewerservices and new roads into areas where farm-ing is the recommended use.

• Discouragepreservationtechniquessuchasagriculturalzoning,agriculturalsecurityareasand the purchase of agricultural easements

in areas where urban development is recom-mended.

• Encourage farm-related business in areaswhere farming is recommended.

• Inareasrecommendedforfarming,agriculturaluses should be protected from residential de-velopmentandnon-farmactivitiesthatinterferewith normal farming practices.

• Targetstrategicareas forpreservationas il-lustratedonMap11.

imPlementation

• LVPCstaffwillmakerecommendationstoeachcounty government and agencies involved in agricultural preservation on matters pertaining to this plan.

• LVPCwill support effectiveagricultural zon-ingsuchasthetypeusedinHeidelbergandLynntownships.LVPCstaffassistancewillbeoffered to townships that want to enact similar zoningtoprotectareasthattheregionalplanrecommends for farmland preservation.

Residential development encroaches on actively farmed areas.

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• During subdivision and land developmentreviews,LVPCstaffwillidentifyanyinconsis-tencies with areas recommended for farming ontheGeneralLandUsePlan.

• DuringutilityandtransportationreviewsLVPCstaffwillidentifyconflictswithexistingagricul-tural security areas and areas recommended for farming in the plan.

• Duringupdatingorreviewoflocalcomprehen-sive plans, staff will recommend mapping of important farmland, agricultural security areas, and farmland where agricultural easements have been purchased so that these areas can be considered for preservation in the compre-hensive plan.

• ConsiderationwillbegiventoamendingtheGeneralLandUsePlantoadd“farmlandpres-ervation” areas where actions at the local level make farming the recommended use if farming is consistent with other policies of this plan.

• AgriculturalLandPreservationBoardsineachcounty should preserve farmland primarily in the areas designated for farmland preservation inthisplan.TheAgriculturalLandPreservationBoards in each county should give greaterimportance in their scoring systems to confor-mity with the recommendations of the county comprehensive plan.

• Thecountiesandmunicipalitiesshouldprovideanadequateleveloffinancialsupportforac-quisition of development rights on agricultural properties.

Goal

To support agriculture as an essential component of a self-sustaining, regional economy, promoting profitable farms that produce healthy food locally for the people of our region while respecting our natural environment.

Policies

• Supportretentionoflocalfamilyfarms.• Supportexpansionofsustainablefamilyfarm-

ingasaprofitableactivity.• Supportretentionandexpansionoffarmer-only

farmers’ markets where the farmers come from within a short distance of the market.

• Supportretentionandexpansionofregionalvalue-addedeffortssuchaslocalfarmsandbusinesses that culture vegetables, that pro-ducecheesesandwine,themicro-breweries,thelocalweavers,soap-makers,etc.

• Supporttheeffortsofregionalinstitutions,ex-tension services, and other agencies engaged in agricultural development efforts.

imPlementation

• LVPCwillusereviewpowerstosupportagricul-tural,value-added,andcommercialsitesthatareprovidinglocally-producedfoodtoLehighValleyresidents.

• LVPCwillpromotecoordinationofsitedevel-opment for farms, farmers markets, and other local food distribution/usage locations and of their related distribution networks.