North East farmland protection plan on road to completion

NORTH EAST — Lynn Mordas, head of the town’s Farmland Protection Planning Committee (FPPC), and Liz Brock, the town’s consultant from the American Farmland Trust (AFT), presented the Town Board with a draft copy of the Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plan last Thursday, July 9. The move puts the committee closer to accomplishing its goal of creating a viable plan to help support existing agricultural land throughout North East, something that is essential to the town’s future, according to Mordas.

“There aren’t so many farms left in the state,†she said. “But we’re very fortunate here to have over 70 percent of our land in agricultural use. The real work starts here. Once the plan is adopted is one thing. The plan itself lays out the strategy; doing it is the real test of everybody’s abilities.â€

The plan’s goals include protecting farmland to ensure its future while maintaining the character of the community, supporting economic opportunities for farms and businesses that support agriculture, supporting agricultural education and awareness of its values and activities, and encouraging town policies and regulations that support agriculture. Those goals fit well with the community’s needs and wants, the committee believes, since it created its plan with the help of local farmers, municipal board members, Conservation Advisory Council (CAC) members, members of the public, Brock, Mordas and others who comprise the FPPC.

“Agriculture is our number one industry in North East, and it impacts every other business and industry in town, as well as the fact that if one looks around you’ve got incredible vistas and environmental resources in town,†Mordas said.

Town Supervisor Dave Sherman said the report will also have to be submitted for comments to the Dutchess County Farmland Protection Board for its review as well. In the meantime, he’s planning to make the report available to the public for review at the Town Hall, Village Hall, the library and potentially online at the village’s Web site, villageofmillerton.com.

“The board thought the report was well done and that a lot of work was done,†Sherman said. “And we had no problems with the general thrust of the report.â€

The supervisor said there were some questions about how land is being used at this point and changes occurring in agriculture in the community, questions he said are answered in the report. He said he believes the report suggests dealing with agricultural issues in the face of future development, for example, through the town’s planning process.

“In essence the idea is to try to fine tune our planning in the community to be friendlier to agriculture and there are a lot of things already in place that are very supportive to agriculture that could  be done and looked into,†he said. “This is not a fixed solution as such, but will require further investigation.â€

Sherman also suggested partnering with the county to take advantage of the the state program to purchase farming rights while preserving local land and views.

Mordas said there’s more to it than that. She said preserving farmland lends to a symbiotic relationship with the town that promises it will grow in a healthy and fruitful way.

“Open lands do not stay open without agriculture, and our water doesn’t stay pure  without agriculture,†she said, adding farmland even keeps taxes low. “The cost of services in our community [benefits from farmers]. Agricultural land pays far more in taxes per acre than they use in services per acre, basically subsidizing every residential taxpayer.â€

The plan itself was drafted following the committee’s receipt of a $25,000 matching state grant for exactly that purpose. That was back in March 2008. The committee has matched the grant with man hours put in by Brock, Mordas and others working on the plan. So far it has yet to spend the entire grant amount. If it has money remaining by the plan’s completion, Mordas said the funds will be spent on implementation.

A benefit to the whole project, according to Mordas, is that once the plan is implemented, North East will earn a reputation for being farm friendly.

“It will be on the map as a community that supports agriculture and desires to have agricultural businesses and agricultural communities here,†she said. “And the forcing out of such entities in Dutchess County [coupled with the town’s reputation] will see us as very welcoming to those people and businesses now and in the future. It benefits the whole county to have a strong agricultural community in Dutchess County [and we can have that].â€

The committee is soliciting comments from the community on its report. They can be sent to Brock at lbrock@farmland.org. There will also be a public meeting on the report at which time a presentation will be made and comments from the public will be accepted. That meeting is set for Aug. 3 at the American Legion Hall Post 178 on Route 44 in Millerton, at 7 p.m.