Agricultural zones
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audience revealed that most
of the farmers were un
certain how an agricultural
district would affect them
and their livelihood.
Amos Funk, a Manor
Township farmer and
chairman of the state Land
Use Committee, was on hand
to help clarify what such a
START
move would mean. He told
those assembled, “We have
the best land in the United
States. We need en
couragement to make a
committment (to keep the
land in farming).”
Funk defined “en
couragement” in terms of
legislation designed to make
it profitable for a farmer to
keep his land in agriculture
and not be forced to sell it to
a developer to finance his
retirement.
“The only retirement we
have is land,” said Funk.
“Farmers need com
pensation to make up for a
pension plan.”
The “economic in
centives” he had m mind
were the kind that come
from the state, through
taxes He suggested that if
one-half of one percent of
real estate transfer taxes
were earmarked for the
purpose, $l5 million would
be available for the state to
purchase development
rights from farmers who
would have voluntarily
signed away their right to
sell their farms to
developers for a set period of
time. In New York state,
farmers who sign such an
agreement are bound to keep
their land in agriculture for
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 31,1977
eight years. After that they
are again free to sell to
developers.
In Pennsylvania, Act 319,
the “Clean and Green” Act,
allows farmers to sign a
similar agreement giving
them preferential tax
treatment. Their land then is
taxed at values lower than
developmental land values.
In Lancaster County, few
farmers have signed, said
Funk, because the
legislation makes little if any
difference in their taxes.
But, he noted, in the near
future, farmland will be
reassessed at higher values,
and then 90 per cent of the
farming population will
benefit from signmg the
“Clean and Green’’
agreement, he estimated.
A man who identified
himself as Rick Claffey, a
developer, told the group,
“It’s time for farmers and
developers to quit being at
odds and start working
together.”
Claffey said if farmers
would sell to developers
rather than agreeing to sell
development rights to the
state, they would reap more
profits as well as help save
farmland because private
developers tend to build for
density, thereby preserving
farmlands that would be lost
to the spread of less dense
developments. He added
that if developers purchased
the lands, money for
development would come
from private sectors, not
from taxes.
Funk made the point that
tax breaks would give far
mers the option of continuing
to produce during periods of
low profits and remain in
farming until such time
when it becomes a more
lucrative means of making a
living. As an example of a
highly profitable future farm
product, he mentioned the
fact that experiments are
being conducted on oil
producing crops which
would return the farmer
high profits.
Several farmers ex
pressed reluctance at being
coerced into an agreement
that would limit their
freedom to sell land.
Funk emphasized that
legislation would provide for
a voluntary program
allowing farmers the choice
of selling their lands or
preserving them for
agricultural use. Farmers
could band together to form
an agricultural district
where everyone agreed to
keep the area in farming, he
said.
In Warwick Township,
farmers could begin by
advising township officials
to pass an ordinance
creating an agricultural
zone, said Funk. It wouldn’t
be as strong a measure as
state legislation providing
economic incentives, he
added, but it would be a start
and would limit that area to
farms and related agri
businesses.
“We can’t get anything in
return at this point in time,”
he told the gathering; “you’d
just be doing it because
(you) feel it’s the right thing
to do.”
Before adjourning the
meeting, members of the
planning commission asked
for volunteers to form a five
man committee to study the
feasibility of establishing an
agricultural zone in War
wick Township. David
Landis, a member of the
planning commission and a
farmer, was chosen to serve
as liason between the
committee and the planning
commission.
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