Farmland Preservation Program

Judging from the testimony offered at a public hearing Thursday night on the administration's plan to comprehensively rezone western Howard County, the planning board has a lot of work to do before sending its recommendations to the zoning board.Forty-six of the more than 300 people at the Glenelg hearing offered opinions about the plan. And even among those with common interests, no two views were identical.Take for example, the farming community. James M. Sanborne, a Dayton resident who farms in Highland, and Mount Airy farmer Jay Tyson told similar stories about the problems of putting residences next to farms.

The Rash brothers' farm, where gentle hills of timothy and alfalfa once supported one of the largest dairy herds in Carroll County, is more than another patch of farmland, the brothers say. It is the key to their comfortable retirement -- a 401(k) plan with fertilizer."Working people have pension plans, stocks and bonds to cash in. A farmer has land. How we sell it determines what kind of retirement we have," says Glenn Rash, 68, who owns the 400-acre farm west of Route 97 with brothers Edwin, 73, and Claude, 61.But to cash in their investment, the Rashes will need tomorrow to persuade the Carroll County commissioners to rezone more than 145 acres of farmland for an upscale golf course community with 50 homes.

For four decades, Malvin White could count on his farm. It was his insurance policy against hard times. It was his family after his children left home.And as long as he lived, Howard County officials had hoped to preserve the rural charm of Mr. White's 110 acres in Woodbine.After saving from development more than 1,000 acres nearly encircling his land, officials were eager to buy his property's development rights through the county's much publicized farmland preservation program.But Mr. White died in 1992.

Howard County's farmland preservation program, which was shut down for nearly two years to give officials time to react to its eye-popping success, is back in business with most of its old luster intact.County officials have made it harder for participating land owners to receive top dollar for surrendering their development rights to the county, but the new criteria have slowed applications only a little."More information is required at the application stage," said Donna Mennitto, the program administrator, "but that should facilitate getting to settlement."

The Carroll commissioners approved only a few tweaks to their proposed 2004 budget yesterday during the final scheduled work session on the spending plan, which still could be scrambled by impending state cuts. The most significant change approved yesterday would add $3 million to the county's agricultural land-preservation program to offset a lack of state funding for preservation. The commissioners said they were satisfied overall with the budget, which includes $245 million in operating money and $62 million in capital expenses.

Preservation of farms is a political issue The Howard County Farmland Preservation Program is a model for the nation. It is certainly the best program in Maryland. It needs to be strengthened and improved. More incentives must be created to make it worth the farmers' while to place their farms in the preservation. In the public debate, it is critical to separate the issues of farmland preservation (needs fixing!) and zoning/density (does not need fixing). The zoning put in place in 1992 aggressively preserves farmland.

The Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to make achange in the county farmland preservation program that will maintain consistency in incentive payments for farmers.The county Agriculture Preservation Advisory Board recommended the change, said William Powel, county program administrator.The change means the county will pay farmers incentives for preserving their land based on the average per-acre agriculture value, as determined by county appraisals during fiscal 1989.

The county Zoning Board has voted to rezone part of a Cooksville farm on Route 97 for a small convenience center and a gasoline station.The ruling will grant the Brice Ridgely family the county's first rural business zoning, a category created by the the board in 1992.The decision on the 13.9-acre parcel, which is now zoned rural conservation, will become final after Zoning Board members sign a written decision.The zoning change was allowed because it is "a business that is directly related to agriculture," said Councilman Charles C. Feaga, a Republican who represents west county.

The Carroll commissioners voted yesterday to add three farms - more than 225 acres - to the state's farmland preservation program. The farms, in north-central Carroll County, will be designated preservation districts pending state approval. The Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation is scheduled to vote on the county's recommendations at its meeting April 23. Under Maryland's program, the farms become temporary preservation districts and candidates for permanent preservation.

The proposal by state Senator Larry Haines, R-5th, to nearly double the amount of money for farmland preservation under Program Open Space is a step in the right direction.During the past four years, state support for Maryland's farmland preservation program virtually disappeared and the effort to prevent prime agricultural land from being overrun by residential development has lagged.The POS initiative, funded through the state's share of the real property transfer tax, was designed to finance the purchase of land or easements for open space.