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Agriculture Advisory Board Meeting

Chatham County · Agriculture Advisory Board
Tuesday, December 10, 2024 at 7:00 pm · Cooperative Extension Conference Room - Chatham County Agriculture & Conference Center, 1192 US 64 Business, Pittsboro, LEFT ENTRANCE TO AGRICULTURE & CONFERENCE CENTER Pittsboro, North Carolina 27312

Advisory board meeting Farmland and open spaceAppointments and personnelElections and districtsGrants and outside fundingRezoningState legislative agendaZoning text amendment

Agenda document Minutes Meeting page Watch Meeting recap

What was decided

  1. Approved IIIApproval of September 10, 2024 Meeting Notes Approved unanimously
  2. Approved VIVAD application review Two approved and one denied, 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 elected officers on 10 December 2024, approved two voluntary agricultural district applications and turned down a third, and heard what the Unified Development Ordinance will mean for farmland.

The ordinance creates an agricultural zoning district meant to protect prime soils and working farms, mostly north and south of Siler City. The county then has to rezone itself to match, and nobody had approved a process or a timeline for that.

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 nine members attended. The officer election was held in December rather than September, so that new members could take part. The chair was re-elected for one more term and said he wants the leadership to change hands after it, and the vice chair agreed to continue. Both passed unanimously.

Of three voluntary agricultural district applications covering 44.75 acres, two qualified and one did not: a site visit found no horticultural activity on the property. The board approved the two and denied the third, unanimously.

Staff reported that the Triangle Land Conservancy had discussed the coming round of farmland preservation applications, which may total 531 acres and ask $210,000 against up to $325,000 available.

The Planning Board liaison's report is the substance. The new agricultural zone would protect prime soils and viable farming areas. He said he would ask the Planning Board to bring the guidelines for it to this board before final adoption, and he flagged a new bill in the legislature that would affect the whole implementation. That bill was Senate Bill 382, and it stopped the ordinance for the whole of the following year. He left the board three questions: where the agricultural districts should be, what the criteria are, and what to do about farmers who do not want to be rezoned.

How the votes went

The September minutes, the slate of officers, and the district applications all passed unanimously, with two applications approved and one denied.

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 · 4Discussion item · 2Minutes approval · 1Appointment · 1Staff or committee report · 1
  1. I Call to Order
    Procedural
  2. II Roll Call
    Procedural
    Six members present, three absent
  3. III Approval of September 10, 2024 Meeting Notes
    Minutes approval
    Approved unanimously
  4. IV New member introductions
    Procedural Appointments and personnel
  5. V Officer elections
    Appointment Appointments and personnelElections and districts
    Held in December rather than September so new members could take part; officers serve one-year terms.
    Chair and vice chair re-elected unanimously
  6. VI VAD application review
    Discussion item Farmland and open space
    Three applications covering 44.75 acres; two qualified and one did not, a site visit having found no horticultural activity.
    Two approved and one denied, unanimously
  7. VII Farmland preservation grant update
    Staff or committee report Farmland and open spaceGrants and outside funding
    The coming round of applications may total 531 acres and ask $210,000, against up to $325,000 available.
  8. VIII New business: the development ordinance, farmland preservation, and the Agribusiness Council
    Discussion item Farmland and open spaceRezoningState legislative agendaZoning text amendment
    The new agricultural zoning district would protect prime soils and working farms north and south of Siler City, but the county must rezone itself to match and no process or timeline had been approved. A new bill in the legislature would affect the whole implementation.
  9. IX Next Meeting
    Procedural
    Tuesday, March 11

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