New Jersey - BURLINGTON COUNTY
Countywide program - Formed in 1981 - (Chesterfield Township information illustrates
local planning patterns.) - researched by Al Sokolow
OVERVIEW - Burlington County manages the largest agricultural easement program in New Jersey and one of the 12 largest local programs in the nation as of 2003. The program features installment purchase (IPA) funding, a targeted list of possible easements, and collaborative planning efforts with townships. Burlington formed its program before New Jersey state funding became available. It since has raised more easement funds from local sources, including voter approved measures, than any other program in the state. Major highways that bisect the northern, most productive agricultural part of the county, connect to the New York City and Philadelphia areas. Chesterfield Township contains the largest volume of agricultural easements in the county and has an active transfer of development rights (TDR) program.
EASEMENT ACTIVITY - 14,782 agricultural acres in
111 farms outside of the Pinelands area. Commodities include field crops, soybeans,
wheat, corn, vegetables, horticulture and equine. 133 acres is the average easement
parcel size. Chesterfield Township has 4,260 county-purchased easement acres
in 32 farms.
Goals: No specific program goals-the targeted area includes 40,000 acres.
Other Easement Programs: Much of the southeastern part of the county
is in the Pinelands, a state-designated preservation region that has its own
open space acquisition program. About 16,000 farm acres in Burlington representing
48 parcels are deed restricted through the Pinelands Development Credit program.
Using TDRs, Chesterfield and another township have collectively preserved about
1,360 agricultural acres.
Total Agricultural Easements in County: Approximately 33,000 acres.
FUNDING
Acquisition Spending to Date: $64 million
Revenues: 54 percent from state; 35 percent county property tax (direct
funding and repayment of bond issue); 10 percent municipal contributions from
town property taxes. Voters approved four countywide bond issues for the easement
program in 1986-1996. In 1998, voters approved a dedicated property tax for
farmland and open space protection that provides about $5 million a year for
agricultural easement acquisitions.
Other Arrangements: Since 1998 installment purchases have been the dominant
method for funding transactions, allowing an acceleration of the rate of acquisitions
in the face of development pressures.
GOVERNANCE - The program is overseen by the Burlington County Agriculture Development Board (CADB), a 12-member citizens' body appointed for indefinite terms by the Board of Freeholders. The program staff is housed in the county's Resource Conservation Department.
STAFF AND OPERATING BUDGET - Six full-time staff-three acquisitions staff (including Program Coordinator)-stewardship specialist, attorney and GIS technician. The annual operating budget is about $300,000, not including the staff attorney and some transaction costs.
ORIGINS - Burlington's program was initiated in 1981, several years before the creation of the state program. The startup effort was led by a local elected official who anticipated the effects on local agriculture of continuing urbanization. A model was provided by the earlier start of the Pinelands program to acquire development credits on farms. A proposed 800-home development on several hundred acres in Chesterfield Township also stimulated local support for an easement program. The first easements acquired in 1985 were 600 acres in five parcels that composed the site of the proposed development in Chesterfield.
ACQUISITION PROCESS AND STRATEGY - The CADB determines
the properties to be offered easements and submitted to the state for funding,
while the county Board of Freeholders has the final say in spending county funds
for this purpose. In seeking easements in particular locations, the program
applies considerable discretion beyond the quantitative scoring of applications.
Rating of Parcels: Quantitative. Highest priority is given to agricultural
quality and contiguity, with lesser weights assigned to potential development,
size and planning compatibility.
Other Criteria: Minimum eligibility is enrollment in an Agricultural
Development Area. Owners of parcels included in an acquisition targeting list,
annually compiled by the CADB, are invited to apply for easement purchase. Requirements
for placement on the list include development threat and agricultural soil quality.
CONNECTIONS TO LOCAL PLANNING AND LAND USE POLICIES
- Planning and zoning are town functions although the county runs the easement
program. The planners who manage the county's easement program work closely
with townships on their land use policies, assisting local efforts to adopt
farmland protection measures including TDRs.
Chesterfield Township: The town steers urban development away from its agricultural
and open space areas. Its TDR program, created as part of a master plan revision
in 1998, is intended to accommodate all additional growth for a period of time.
The receiving area of 560 acres is a planned community.
Zoning: State legislation does not allow exclusive agricultural zoning.
Densities for residential development in the county's townships average one
unit to six acres.
DEMOGRAPHICS
2000 Population: 423,000 population
1990-2000 Population Change: +28,000 residents; +7 percent
AGRICULTURAL LAND
103,000 acres mostly cropland.
Conversion to Urban Use: Comparative conversion data not available.
OTHER AGRICULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
1997 Market Value: $87 million Number of Farms: 857
Principal Commodities: Fruits, nuts, berries, nursery plants, vegetables
MAP NARRATIVE - EASEMENT GEOGRAPHY
(PROGRAM MAP)
Most county held easements form contiguous blocks of 10 or more easements.
They are concentrated in the northeastern corner, the location of most of Burlington's
prime farmland. This area includes Chesterfield Township. The northeastern corner
is partially flanked by urban areas and bisected by a major transportation corridor,
composed of the New Jersey Turnpike and Interstate 295, that links the county
to the New York City area. The southern part of the county is largely in the
Pinelands region with much of the land in preserved open space.