Adams County, Pennsylvania

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Adams County, Pennsylvania Agricultural Land
Preservation
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ORGANIZATION OF PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNMENT
STATE
COUNTY GOVERNMENT
21 TOWNSHIP GOVERNMENTS IN ADAMS COUNTY
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67 Counties in Pennsylvania
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21 Townships in Adams County
Gettysburg
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There are 6 School Districts in Adams
County! There are 501 in the State!
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Pennsylvania !
Our National Ranking . . .
4 for Milk Cows, grapes, mushrooms
christmas trees 5 for Apples 6 for Peaches
Strawberries
USDA 1997
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Of course, Pennsylvania is NUMBER 1 for
FARMLAND PRESERVATION !
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Hanover Shoe Farms 1 Standard bred
Breeding Facility in the WORLD!
Gettysburg National Military Park
ADAMS COUNTY
All of our water is generated within the county
1 in State for Peaches Apples
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• Why Adams County, Pennsylvania?
• Location, location, location
• Tourism
• Rural, scenic beauty
• Quality of life

Gettysburg
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• Why Hawaii?
• Location, location, location
• Tourism
• Rural, scenic beauty
• Quality of life

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Pressure???
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ADAMS COUNTY POPULATION, 1950 2010
23 increase 2000-2010
4th fastest growing County in PA 2000 census
SOURCE ADAMS COUNTY OFFICE OF PLANNING
DEVELOPMENT
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The Gettysburg Area Senior High School Built in
1998 student capacity 1,600
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ADAMS COUNTY LAND USE
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What tools DO we HAVE?
RIGHT TO FARM LAW
AGRICULTURAL SECURITY AREAS
CLEAN GREEN
COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
AG PROTECTION ZONING
PURCHASE OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS (PDRs) (County,
Township Land Conservancy of Adams County)
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Purchase of Development Rights
Since 1989 The State of Pennsylvania and
all participating Counties have invested over
557 million, Preserving 2,266 farms totaling
265,137 acres.
October 2003
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How did the Pennsylvania Program get started?
ACT 43 of 1981 - The ASA Law created the
possibility of a PDR program
Regulations to implement the PDR program were
created in 1988 with ACT 149
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Where does the state money come from?
1987 - Bond Issue of 100 Million This bond
referendum passed with a 2 to 1 margin in
November, 1987. This bond has now been totally
spent.
Cigarette Tax Revenue 20million/year Originally
this was based on 2 cents/pack, but is now a
dedicated funding source
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Where does the state money come from?
Growing Greener Program 20 Million of Growing
Greener money was allocated toward farmland
preservation in 1998 for a 5 year
period. Growing Greener was an initiative by the
Ridge Administration for environmental
preservation issues as well as farmland
preservation.
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Farmland Preservation
PDR - How can you get started?
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Gain local support

• Elected Officials
• Chamber of Commerce
• Citizens
• Landowners Farmers

AWG Youre already on your way!
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Ask some tough questions

• How much farm land do we need?

• Which farmland areas are necessary
• to keep Hawaiis agriculture viable?

• How do we focus farmland preservation
• where it will do the most good?

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Ask some tough questions

• Does the amount of farmland in our
• state matter?

• Does farmland loss in our state currently
• affect farms, supporting agricultural
• businesses, and others?

• How much farmland does our state
• need to keep its agriculture base?

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By answering these questions, you will be able to
start to put together a PDR program and ranking
system.
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Pennsylvania created The LESA Ranking System (
With the help of AFT! )
Land Evaluation Site Assessment
Land Evaluation Soil Analysis
Site Assessment Farmland Potential
Clustering Potential
Development Potential
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First A farm must meet certain
Minimum Criteria to qualify

• The state regulations stipulate
• certain Minimum Criteria as
• well as certain Ranking Criteria

• A farm must meet the State
• Minimum Criteria in order
• to receive any state funds

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First A farm must meet certain
Minimum Criteria to qualify

• A County may add County specific
• Minimum Criteria to their program,
• but it must be approved by the state

• State involvement There needs to be
• some level of consistency statewide, but
• the Counties MUST be allowed to be
• flexible!

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How does the Adams County LESA system work?
Adams County Nursery
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State Minimum Criteria

• Is the farmland tract in an ASA?

• Are 50 of the soils in Soils Classes
• I through IV?

• Is at least 50 of the tract Tillable Land?

• Is there a Soil Conservation Plan
• for the tract?

• Is the tract at least 50 acres in size?

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Adams County Additional Minimum Criteria

• The tract cannot be within the 1990
• federal established boundary of the
• Gettysburg National Military Park

• If the LE Score is 40 or less, the farm
• will not qualify.

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LESA FACTORS

• Land Evaluation 40
• (State 40)
• Farmland Potential 40
• (State 10)
• Development Potential 10
• (State 10)
• Clustering Potential 10
• (State 10)
• (State then allows the remaining 30 to
• the discretion of the county)

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LAND EVALUATION WORKSHEET
Soil Type Acreage x Relative
Value Total Arendtsville 25.23
x 100 2523 Neshaminy 10.5
x 86 903 Landsdale 3.68 x
86 316.48 Buchanan 14.9 x
69 1028.1 Mt. Airy 18.5 x
23 425.5 TOTALS 72.81 (acres) 5196.08

LAND EVALUTATION SCORE Relative Value Total /
Total Acres 71.36 5196.08 / 72.81 71.36
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Does the Relative Value approach work when you
have diverse soils? Not in Adams County . .
. We worked with NRCS to determine what OUR best
soils are based on corn production OR orchard
production
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FARMLAND POTENTIAL

• Acreage of proposed land
• Percent used for cropland
• Stewardship Soil Conservation Plan (RMS)
• Human Resources (Owner/Operator)
• Duration (Century Farm)
• Historic/Scenic/Environmental

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DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL

• Amount of road frontage
• Extent of non-ag uses in area
• Proximity of Sewer or Water
• On-site Waste Disposal Potential

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CLUSTER POTENTIAL

• Proximity to other easements or applications
• Consistency with County Comprehensive Planning
  Map
• Effective Ag Zoning
• Amount of Ag Use in Area
• Proximity to other ASAs

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• The Application, Ranking and
• Purchase Process
• 1. Applications are accepted (annually,
• semi-annually, Application Rounds, etc.

(Remember, an application must meet all State
and County minimum criteria)
2. Evaluations are completed on qualified
Applications, and they are ranked based on
their LESA score
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• The Application, Ranking and
• Purchase Process
• 3. Based on available funds, the top ranked
• applications are appraised (500 deposit)

• The County Board presents the landowner
• with an offer to purchase an easement

5. The offer is contingent upon a Title Search
and approval by the Adams County
Commissioners
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• The Application, Ranking and
• Purchase Process
• 6. Landowner decides on type of payment
• - Lump Sum (Yes, unfortunately Capital Gains
  must be paid on these proceeds)
• - 5 year installment (the state now allows
• long term installments, as well)
• - Like-Kind Exchange

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• The Application, Ranking and
• Purchase Process
• 7. Determine if a survey is needed.
• Some PA Counties require the landowner
  to
• provide the survey when needed. If a
  legal
• description closes within 1200, we do
  not
• require a survey

8. Are any subordination agreements needed?
This can get difficult, and needs to be dealt
with very carefully
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• The Application, Ranking and
• Purchase Process
• 9. Prepare documentation for State review
  and
• approval

10. Present the farm to the State Review Board
for final approval
Wait for the checks and go to settlement!
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What are the Incidental Costs ?

• Appraisal
• Title Search
• Survey Costs
• Notification of Adjoining Landowners
• Legal Costs
• Closing Fees
• For Adams County, these costs add up
• to between 3,000 and 8,000 per farm

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The Perfect Administrator

• Planner
• Conservation District Technician
• Realtor
• Attorney
• Banker
• Teacher
• CPA
• and make sure they grew up on a farm!

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Adams County Farmland Preservation Operating
Budget
Year Budget Issues Cty
Match 1990 15,000 Part Time Administrator
150,000 0 acres preserved 1996
52,980 Part Time Administrator
257,000 Part Time Clerical
Start GIS 5,000 acres preserved 2003
165,000 Full Time Administrator
490,000 Full Time Assistant (GIS)
Bond Part Time Clerical 12,187 acres
preserved
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To date Adams County has invested 4,471,955
preserving 12,187 acres on 78 farms throughout
the county.
In the past, all money invested for easements has
come from the County General Fund.
Rollback penalty from Clean Green also goes
into Farmland Preservation
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The Adams County Commissioners have recently
approved our first Bond for Farmland
Preservation! This 2 Million Bond Issue must be
spent within a 3 year period.
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How do we stretch our dollars??
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BARGAIN SALES
Adams County has saved over 1.7 million
utilizing bargain sales. A Bargain Sale is
when the landowner accepts less than 100 of the
appraised easement value.
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Partnering Get Creative! American Farmland
Trust FRIENDS of the National Parks at
Gettysburg The Civil War Trust The Conservation
Fund Federal Farmland Preservation Program Land
Conservancy of Adams County
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Partnering with American Farmland Trust
Milton and Marie Hoffman Farm
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Partnering with The FRIENDSof the National Parks
at Gettysburg
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Partnering with The Federal Farmland Preservation
Program and The Civil War Trust
Weikert Farm
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A member-supported, non-profit land trust
dedicated to preserving natural, agricultural,
historical, and recreational land.
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Partnering with Land Conservancy of Adams County
Adams County Nursery
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TOTAL ACRES PROTECTEDLAND CONSERVANCY OF ADAMS
COUNTY
Acres
Year
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Ellen T. Dayhoff, Director Adams County
Agricultural Land Preservation Board 670 Old
Harrisburg Rd, Gettysburg, PA 17325 717-337-5859
Ext. 335 agland_at_acc.pa.net
Sam and Ellen Dayhoff
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