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Agricultural Preservation

Orange County · Agricultural Preservation Board
Wednesday, March 19, 2025

Regular meeting Farmland and open spaceEnvironment and sustainabilityComprehensive planAppointments and personnelLand conversion and large development

Agenda document Minutes Watch Meeting recap

What was decided

  1. Approved 4Meeting Summary/Minutes Approved with corrections
  2. Approved 5.aVAD update and new farm applications Approved
  3. Approved 6.cRevised draft of the Agricultural Viability and Farmland Stewardship Plan Endorsed unanimously; presented to the commissioners on 8 April

Read from the agenda's recorded outcomes. Where the board published minutes, those are the record — this is a pointer to them.

What's on this agenda

The Orange County Agricultural Preservation Board endorsed the draft Agricultural Viability and Farmland Stewardship Plan on 19 March 2025, ahead of presenting it to the county commissioners on 8 April. It also approved one new voluntary agricultural district application and heard where the 2050 land use plan stands.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

The planning director explained why farms sit largely outside county zoning. When the state enacted zoning in 1959 farming was exempt, and while some control has crept in over subdividing farmland, the operation itself remains exempt where it meets the definition of a bona fide farm, including activities incident to the farm. The county cannot regulate its lighting, parking or traffic. Entertainment and special event venues are where that gets complicated, and the director had recently issued an advisory opinion on agritourism.

He also said the 2050 land use plan process is being extended, probably into 2026, to allow more input from the commissioners after a work session that produced many questions. The plan is updated about every fifteen years and has drawn roughly 600 citizen surveys.

Researchers from Duke described a project interviewing small and first-generation farmers in Orange and Durham counties about what they need to succeed. They have interviewed 32 farmers, 24 of them in Orange, aiming for about 50 in total. Most are in their thirties and forties, have farmed five years or more, and many hold college degrees and chose farming as meaningful work after apprenticing on other farms. The obstacles they name are business management, access to labour, marketing, and the cost of buying or leasing land.

The board endorsed the condensed farmland plan unanimously, after discussion of how to define agritourism. Members noted that the plan's goals will only happen through specific funding requests to the commissioners and through amendments to the development ordinance, and that the final version should state priorities in order. The board approved a voluntary agricultural district application covering 18.71 acres of pasture for raising miniature Herefords. Staff also flagged that four members retire from the board on 30 June and asked for names.

How the votes went

Four motions carried: the January meeting summary with corrections, the Butler voluntary agricultural district application, endorsement of the draft farmland plan, and adjournment.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

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Agenda items (7)

Discussion item · 2Presentation · 2Minutes approval · 1Staff or committee report · 1Appointment · 1
  1. 4 Meeting Summary/Minutes
    Minutes approval Farmland and open space
    Corrected to show last year's breakfast cost at $1,900 against $1,259 this year, and to place the Gundlach/Kage farm mostly in the Caldwell agricultural district rather than Cedar Grove.
    Approved with corrections
  2. 5.a VAD update and new farm applications
    Discussion item Environment and sustainabilityFarmland and open space
    One application approved: 18.71 acres of pasture in the Schley/Eno agricultural district for raising miniature Herefords, with a current conservation plan and too little timber to require a timber plan. Two applications approved in January go to the commissioners on 15 April. County conservation easement data will be moved into new software.
    Approved
  3. 6.a Land Use Plan 2050: overview of new draft and discussions with BOCC
    Presentation Comprehensive planFarmland and open spaceLand conversion and large development
    The planning director explained that a bona fide farm is exempt from county zoning, including its lighting, parking and traffic, and that entertainment and special event venues are where agritourism gets difficult. The 2050 plan process is being extended, probably into 2026, for more commissioner input; about 600 citizen surveys have come in.
  4. 6.b Insights from a research project with first generation farmers in Orange County
    Presentation Farmland and open space
    Duke researchers have interviewed 32 farmers, 24 of them in Orange County, aiming for about 50. Most are in their thirties and forties with five or more years farming; the obstacles they name are business management, labour, marketing, and the cost of buying or leasing land.
  5. 6.c Revised draft of the Agricultural Viability and Farmland Stewardship Plan
    Discussion item Comprehensive planEnvironment and sustainabilityFarmland and open space
    A condensed version organised around three goals: make agriculture a central planning consideration, conserve farmland through measures such as conservation easements, and improve the economic viability of farming. Members noted the goals will only advance through funding requests to the commissioners and amendments to the development ordinance.
    Endorsed unanimously; presented to the commissioners on 8 April
  6. 7.c Extension and Ag Economic Development activities
    Staff or committee report Environment and sustainabilityFarmland and open space
    An agrovoltaics demonstration project is planned for the Breeze farm, pending a Department of Energy grant that staff said may now be uncertain.
  7. 7.d Membership
    Appointment Appointments and personnel
    Four members retire from the board on 30 June 2025; staff asked for names of prospective members.

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