Maryland - CARROLL COUNTY
Countywide program - Formed in 1979 - researched by Suzanne Heflin
OVERVIEW - Carroll County lies in north-central Maryland, just south of Pennsylvania. It is a part of the Baltimore metropolitan area, located 10 miles northeast of the city at the closest part. Farmland preservation efforts are concentrated on the western and most rural part of the county. Carroll County participates in both state programs, Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF) and Rural Legacy. It also operates a Critical Farms program to expedite the protection of key parcels, with the county fronting easement funds in anticipation of later state reimbursement. Carroll in 2003 has one of the top 12 local programs in the nation, and second in Maryland, in agricultural easement acres acquired. It is also first in the state in easement acres funded by MALPF. The rapid increase in easement acquisitions in recent years has exceeded the rate of farmland conversion to urban uses. An Installment Purchase Agreement (IPA) arrangement for paying easement sellers over time has been in place since 2001.
EASEMENT ACTIVITY - 38,904 agricultural acres, including
the county, MALPF, and Rural Legacy programs. Easement properties are approximately
80 percent cropland, 10 percent woodland and 10 percent pasture.
Goals: 100,000 permanently protected agricultural acres.
Other Easement Programs: Maryland Environmental Trust has 820 acres in
14 transactions, and other acres are held by the Carroll County Land Trust.
Approximately 8,400 acres are preserved as cluster remainder parcels. Easements
are not required for remainder parcels, however all further development potential
is removed.
Total Agricultural Easements in County: Approximately 39,800 acres.
FUNDING
Acquisition Spending to Date: $31 million
Revenues: State funds from MALPF and Rural Legacy, county match of state
funds from local share of agriculture land transfer tax, county bonds, local
general funds and a small amount of federal funds. A 20-year IPA arrangement,
supported by county general funds and the agriculture transfer tax, is used
for county-purchased easements.
GOVERNANCE - The program's staff is housed in the Department of Planning. A five-member citizens' County Agricultural Land Preservation Advisory Board, appointed by the County Commissioners, oversees the program.
STAFF AND OPERATING BUDGET - Three full-time staff persons. The estimated annual operations budget is about $270,000.
ORIGINS - County commissioners organized the easement program as the result of citizen and farm community support. Restricted zoning, adopted in 1978, set the scene for the formation of the program in 1979, shortly after state funding through MALPF became available. The first easements were acquired in 1980.
ACQUISITION PROCESS AND STRATEGY - The county commissioners
make final determinations of local funding and the submission of easement proposals
to the state. Local determinations are based entirely on quantitative scoring
with no discretion applied by county officials.
Rating of Parcels: Quantitative. Applications are ranked on cost, using
the MALPF formula as applied in the state review of applications.
Other Criteria: Minimum state criteria for eligibility in MALPP and Rural
Legacy programs, including location in an Agricultural Preservation District,
class I-III soils and a conservation plan.
CONNECTIONS TO LOCAL PLANNING AND LAND USE POLICIES
- Top goals of the Carroll County Master Plan are to direct growth to designated
areas and preserve 100,000 acres of farmland.
Zoning: Agricultural zoning, covering more than 160,000 acres, calls
for a residential density of one unit to 20 acres (1:20), counting off-conveyances.
The effective density is about 1:15. Residential lots are required to be close
to one acre and clustered.
DEMOGRAPHICS
2000 Population: 150,897
1990-2000 Population Change: +27,525 residents; +22 percent
AGRICULTURAL LAND
160,000 acres
Conversion to Urban Use: Overall, Carroll County is protecting more farmland
than is being converted to non-farm use. According to state numbers 31,610 acres
of farmland were converted while 33,000 acres were permanently protected in
1980-2001. Respective numbers for 1991-2000 were 9,499 converted acres and 13,023
protected acres. (State conversion data)
OTHER AGRICULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
1997 Market Value: $71.2 million Number of Farms: 1,041
Principal Commodities: Dairy products, poultry and poultry products,
cattle and calves
MAP NARRATIVE - EASEMENT GEOGRAPHY
(PROGRAM MAP)
About 90 percent of agricultural easement acres are located in the
northwest corner of the county, furthest from the urban pressures around Baltimore-this
includes the Little Pipe Creek Rural Legacy Area. Several large blocks of easement
land are in the northwest. Urban development occurs largely in the southern
and central parts of Carroll County.