Vermont - STATE PROGRAM
Statewide program - Formed in 1987 - (Franklin County information illustrates
local planning patterns.) - researched by Teri Ptacek
OVERVIEW - The Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB) is unique in combining in one agency and under a single state law the multiple purposes of farmland protection, affordable housing, natural resource protection, and historic preservation. In acquiring agricultural easements, VHCB partners with the Vermont Department of Agriculture and other entities, especially the statewide Vermont Land Trust and other nonprofits. The state provides funds and oversight, and the other agencies acquire, manage, and co-hold the easements. The Vermont program was the first in the nation to receive federal dollars for easements under the 1990 pilot Farms for the Future program. The funding of some acquisitions is assisted by mitigation funds from the urban development of farmland. Franklin County is one of the two top areas of the state in EASEMENT ACTIVITY.
EASEMENT ACTIVITY - 100,651 agricultural acres on
318 parcels. Most easements are co-held by the Vermont Land Trust or the Upper
Valley Land Trust. The largest easement concentrations are in the Champlain
Valley, including Franklin County with 37,600 agricultural acres under easement.
5,183 easement acres were acquired with the assistance of mitigation funds.
Dairy farms make up the bulk of the farmland protected statewide.
Goals: No specific program goals.
Other Easement Programs: More than 300,000 acres of all types are protected
through state funding. Statewide and regional land trusts also hold easements
funded by other sources. The Vermont Land Trust holds more than 400,000 easement
acres of woodland, resource and agricultural lands.
FUNDING
Acquisition Spending to Date: $56.8 million by VHCB on agricultural easements.
Revenues: 68 percent from state funds and the remainder from federal
funds-the pilot Farms for the Future in 1993-1995 and since 1996, the Federal
Farmland Protection Program. State funds come mainly from a property transfer
tax which generates about $2.5 million annually for farmland protection. Not
included in the spending total above are approximately $15 million in foundation
support and private fundraising and $4.8 million in the value of landowner donations.
Approximately $1 million has been received from developers since 1991as mitigation
for the conversion of 634 agricultural acres in 58 projects-the funds are applied
with other dollars to place easements on farms in the same areas.
Other Arrangements: The VHCB has spent more than $142 million for all its programs.
GOVERNANCE - The VHCB has nine members-five citizens appointed by the Governor and four heads of state agencies. The VHCB's Agricultural Committee and a six-member Agricultural Advisory Committee, appointed by the Commissioner of Agriculture, are involved in the detailed review of easement applications.
STAFF AND OPERATING BUDGET - Three full-time persons work on the farmland protection program out of a total VHCB staff of almost 30 persons. The annual operating budget for farmland protection is about $275,000.
ORIGINS - The Vermont Housing and Conservation Trust Fund Act in 1987 established the VHCB and its multiple programs. This legislation was promoted by a coalition of advocates for affordable housing, conservation and historic preservation. An initial $3 million supported the program, which was augmented the following year with a legislative appropriation of $20 million.
ACQUISITION PROCESS AND STRATEGY - Landowner applications
are sponsored by a state agency or land trust. The VHCB conducts a two-stage
review process, pre-application and full-application. The Vermont Land Trust
also has criteria for determining which applications to sponsor. In applying
the numerous qualitative criteria noted below, the review bodies exercise full
discretion.
Rating of Parcels: Not quantitative, see below.
Other Criteria: Minimum eligibility include parcels actively farmed,
conformance with local plans, and easement sale price under $1,400 per acre.
The full review has these priorities, in order of relative importance and with
multiple factors in each category: (1) Land resource, (2) Location, (3) Farm
Infrastructure and (4) Management. Consideration is also given to other preservation
goals and to leveraging other funds.
CONNECTIONS TO LOCAL PLANNING AND LAND USE POLICIES
- Local planning and land use policies are town functions. Other than asking
for letters of support from local governments, there are no formal connections
between the state easement program and local land use and policies. In Franklin
County, every town has a comprehensive plan and zoning ordinance, usually supportive
of farming.
Zoning: Varies statewide, with some towns lacking zoning. Typical zoning
density in rural areas is one unit to two acres.
DEMOGRAPHICS
2000 Population: 608,827 statewide (45,417 Franklin County population)
1990-2000 Population Change: +46,069; +8 percent statewide (+5,437, +13.6
percent Franklin County)
AGRICULTURAL LAND
1.2 million acres statewide: Approximately half is cropland. Franklin County
has 190,215 acres, half in cropland.
Conversion to Urban Use: 4,800 acres from 1992-1997. (National Resource
Inventory)
OTHER AGRICULTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
1997 Market Value: $476 million statewide; $99.6 million Franklin County
Number of Farms: 5,828
Principal Commodities: Dairy, cattle and calves
MAP NARRATIVE - EASEMENT GEOGRAPHY
(PROGRAM MAP)
Most state-funded easements have been acquired by the Vermont Land
Trust, as identified on the map. The majority of protected farms are in the
western Champlain Valley, particularly in Addison and Franklin counties, the
top agricultural counties in the state. They are located south and north, respectively,
of the urbanized Burlington area. Franklin County has significant blocks of
contiguous easement parcels, as demonstrated in the detailed inset map. Not
shown are a group of agricultural easements in the Connecticut River Valley
in east-central Vermont put together by the Upper Valley Land Trust with state
and other funding.