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Agriculture Advisory Board Meeting

Chatham County · Agriculture Advisory Board
Tuesday, September 9, 2025 at 7:00 pm · Fidelis Fields Farm, 424 Jim Moody Rd. Siler City, North Carolina 27344

Advisory board meeting Appointments and personnelFarmland and open spaceRezoningEthics and transparencyGrants and outside fundingState legislative agendaSubdivision and site plans

Agenda document Minutes Meeting page Watch Meeting recap

What was decided

  1. Approved IIIApproval of June 10, 2025 Meeting Notes Approved unanimously

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

Chatham County's Agriculture Advisory Board met at Fidelis Fields Farm in Siler City on 9 September 2025. It reviewed a voluntary agricultural district application, took up the county's new advisory committee policy, and reviewed candidates for its own vacancies.

The board also heard about House Bill 126, which gives voluntary agricultural district members a right to a hearing when their zoning changes.

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

Six of eight members attended. The board approved the Ashby Family Farm's voluntary agricultural district application unanimously, on staff's finding that it qualifies. It recommended Anita Kennedy for appointment, again and unanimously: her earlier nomination was voided by the policy change.

The policy change is the news here. The commissioners now receive advisory board applications directly and pick the appointees, where the Agriculture Advisory Board used to review candidates and recommend. The manager's office agreed to share applications and let the board send recommendations first. The same policy forces member Lamont Horton off the board, because county employees may no longer serve on county advisory boards.

House Bill 126 lets a voluntary agricultural district member whose zoning is being changed request a hearing before this board, which then reports to the commissioners with recommendations. Staff said that matters more in Chatham than elsewhere, because the Unified Development Ordinance rezones much of the county, so hearing requests are likely once it takes effect. A meeting with the state agriculture department found real differences in how the bill is being read.

Interest in the county's farmland preservation grant program has grown since the Triangle Land Conservancy put someone in Chatham full-time. One member reported on attending recent Planning Board meetings and urged the board to learn the county's development process, and a Planning Board member present said proposals have risen because developers are rushing to file before the Unified Development Ordinance takes effect.

How the votes went

The June minutes, the Ashby Family Farm district application and the recommendation of Anita Kennedy all passed unanimously.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

Chatham County's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (9)

Procedural · 3Discussion item · 3Minutes approval · 1Appointment · 1Staff or committee report · 1
  1. I Call to Order
    Procedural
  2. II Roll Call
    Procedural
    Six members present, two absent
  3. III Approval of June 10, 2025 Meeting Notes
    Minutes approval
    Approved unanimously
  4. IV Farmland Preservation Report: VAD application review and CAPD grant status
    Discussion item Farmland and open spaceGrants and outside funding
    The Ashby Family Farm's voluntary agricultural district application, a push for new applications, and the projects in line for this year's farmland preservation grants.
    The Ashby Family Farm application was approved unanimously
  5. V Chatham County Advisory Committee Policy Revision
    Discussion item Appointments and personnelEthics and transparency
    The commissioners now take applications and pick appointees directly, and county employees may no longer serve on county advisory boards.
    Discussed; member Lamont Horton must leave the board under the new policy
  6. VI New board member candidate recommendations
    Appointment Appointments and personnel
    Four candidate applications for board membership.
    Anita Kennedy recommended to the commissioners, unanimously
  7. VII House Bill 126 Review
    Discussion item Farmland and open spaceRezoningState legislative agenda
    New state legislation letting a voluntary agricultural district member whose zoning is changing request a hearing before this board.
  8. VIII Planning Board Update
    Staff or committee report RezoningSubdivision and site plans
  9. X Next Meeting
    Procedural
    Tuesday, December 9 at the Agriculture Center

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