Lancaster farming. (Lancaster, Pa., etc.) 1955-current, October 24, 1981, Image 27

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    DRAFT ZONING MAP - 1981
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HEIDELBERG TOWNSHIP
LEWGH COUNTY PENNA.
This map shows the proposed zoning
divisions being considered by the Lehigh
County's Heidelberg Township to insure their
farming community is safeguarded.
Heildelberg Township has a total area of
15 -835 acres of which 12,623 acres are in
agriculture or vacaht (1978 census).-There are
1,595 acres of prime farmland and 9,270 acres
of additional farmland of statewide im
portance.
NOWS TAKE YOUR CHOICE ON
VACUUM PUMPS
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AMERICAS
wnawiaMM
IWIMmIXIWW
CF
motor,. pump,, oilers,
belts, pulleys, belt guard, muffler, anti
reverse valve, and stainless steel tank
assembly.
AMERICAS NII-PULS
Helps Prevent Teat
Damage & Mastitis
This gentle milking action
prevents ballooning and
distending of the teat. Actual
test results show a 20%
reduction in sphincter muscle
stretching And there's less tall
off which can force milk and
bacteria back into adjacent
teats, causing mastitis
We Do All Types
of Installations
Sales and Service
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w^VA-''''• ■'" ■
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VACUUM PUMP
ANDTANK
MOUNTED
• 2 HP, Stainless Steel
Tank Mounted. 44
CFM
3 HP, Stainless Steel
Tank, Mounted,
66 CFM
• 5 HP, Stainless
Steel Tank/Mounted,
110 CFM
All assemblies include
Authorized Dealer for Dauphin, Lebanon & Derfcs Counties.
CLYDE C. LUTZ
Ephrata. PA 17522
717-738-1718, Answering Service 717-733-1224
BM Blue Mtn. District
RR Rural Residential
District
District
We’re talking about
high-capacity
milking with any it
milking 'operation. And we’re ' |
talking about uninterrupted
vacuum'supply up to 100 dm ,
ASME (2890 1/iti). Westfalia
Systemat’s new RPS 2800 Wjl I
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airflow...extra bearing
strength...positive power
transmission with multiple
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/WESTFALIA
[ systema*
An extra big advantage: the RPS 2800 takes widely
'available SAE HO #lO motor oil. You’ve got a choice
of 5, 'JVz or 10 hp motor for single- or three-phase
operation. And you can buy only what you.need the
pump alone (with or without motor and oil reclaimer)
or the complete RPS 2800 Vacuum Pump System,
base-mountedand ready-to-go. You just can’t beat it.
For more information, contact your local equipment
dealer or Westfalia Systemat today.
r—-OTHER EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE-—*
• Show Ease Stalls
• Cow Mats
• Zimmerman Ven
tilating Fans &
Controls
• Vacuum Pumps
• Automatic Take Offs
• Motorized Feed
Carts \
• Hand Feed Carts
Heidelberg Twp.
(Continued from Page Al)
Permitted uses include
agriculture, single family
detached dwellings and certain
community facilities, such as
churches, with a minimum lot size
of one acre.
Village Center • the existing
villages of Germansville and
Pleasant Comer. Permitted uses
include stores and offices, non
nuisance industry, and certain
community facilities with
minimum lot sizes of 20,000'square
feet; and single family detached
dwellings with a minimum lot size
0f30,000 square feet.
Overlying all these zoning
definitions is an environmetally
protected area designation. This
would include areas of high water
tables, flood plains and steep
areas. Here the minimum lot size
would be three acres.
What was the public’s reaction to
these proposals, seemingly in the
fanner’s favor?.
Comments and questions were
primarily negative. Several
testimonies received rounds of
applause from the audience.'
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Here are some nf the
statements:
* "Who's going to pay the
development rights .for keeping
this land in' agriculture? The
farmers are the ones who are going
to pay because their land will be
zoned agriculture and won’t
qualify for payment? ”
* "Let farmers do with their
land as they please. It’s giir only
pension when we get old.”
* "Who’s going to farm all that
land that’s in the agricultural
zone? We’re getting too old and the
Legend
A Agriculture District
VC Village Center District
Environment Protection
District Boundaries
• Manure Scrapers for
Poultry* Free
Stall Operations
• Manure Augers, both
power takeoff
& motor driven
Liquid Manure
Spreaders
Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, October 24,1981—A27
i Lu mci's won i waul u> lai'in
it all.”
★ “You’re taking away the
farmer’s economic base. If a
farmer’s most valuatye asset is
eroded, you erode his equity and he
won’t be able to get loans.
“The state and federal govern
ment assess agricultural land
lower than residential land, so the
land will be worth less if it’s zoned
specifically for agricultural uses.
“What is your hurry? There is a
move to pay farmers for their
development rights, as they are
attempting to do on Long Island.
But, if the farmer doesn’t have any
development rights, be won’t get
paid.
“The effect of this ordinance is
exclusionary. What you are trying
to do is preserve the status quo.
What you want to do is preserve
that com field across the street as
open space at the sake of the
farmer.”
* “The whole thing is unfair. By
zoning almost everything
agricultural, you’ll be adding to
the surpluses and lower prices
farmers are already ex
periencing.”
* “When you pay taxes on your
land, you should have a choice in
what you can do with it. Our land is
our pension—we must rely on it.”
* “How can anyone start far
ming today with prices the way
they- are? It’s tough to get started
without collaterol. If you devalue
the property by zoning it
agricultural, there will be no
collaterol.”
* "Three acres per home is a lot
of waste.”
* "The state of lowa, one of the
nation’s most productive farming
areas, is losing acres of farmland
through erosion caused by far
mers. There land, which used to
have topsoil several feet thick, now
has only a few inches of topsoil.
This loss is worse than losing
farmland to development.
“Here in Heidelberg Township,
the soil is shale and gravel. What
you have is a terrific lobbying
effort to- save a few small far
mers.”
* “We’re not against the con
cept of preserving farmland. The
danger here is dealing with the
problem on the local level with
local farmers paying the price.
“Farmers shouldn’t have -to
volunteer their land. It's not our
farmland it’s everybody's
farmland.
"If a farmer wants his land to
stay m farming, let him sign a
voluntary deed restriction. And
Eight to Farm legislation will take
care of nuisance ordinances so that
a farmer- doesn’t need the ag
zoning to protect him from
neighbors complaing about noise
arufsmelK"
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Also testifying were represen
tatives from two York. County
townships who have had'a similar
zontng ordinances in effect for the
past five years.
Clarence Nace of Shrewsbury
Township, York County, farms
about 400 acres of land, raising
grain, and also serves on the
township board. He shared with
the group that their biggest con
cern the devaluing of farmland
after zoning it agricultural
hasn’t happened in Shrewsbury
Township.
“There is increased competition
between fanners for land. And now
there’s an incentive for young
people to get into fanning
something they didn’t have before
zoning. Zoning gave fanners the
incentive to expand their
operations, knowing they would be
protected against development
pressures,” Nace said. “Since land
prices increased, farms were
actually worth more as farms
after zoning.”
York County dairyman David
Stewart told the group about Peach
Botton Township’s experience with
this type of zoning. He pointed out
this type of zoning keeps good
farmland intact, not chopped up by
development on the best land since
it restricts housing to areas un
suitable for farming.
“Our farmland value went from
$6OO an acre for farming to about
|3,000 an acre for farming since
this zoning was enacted six years
ago,” Stewart recalled.
Adding his comments was York
County attorney Gilbert-Malone.
He reviewed a study conducted by
the county’s board of realtors to
study the impact of ag zoning on
property value..'
“What we found was property in
townships with ag zoning in
creased in value equally with land
in townships without ag zoning.
The major difference was' that the
people who were buying in ag
zones were farmers whereas those
buying in non-ag-zoned areas were
speculators,” reported Malone.
“The loss of ag land is a serious
national problem three million
acres are lost each year. If this
problem is not dealt with at the
local level, the state or federal
government will step in as they did
before with our over-flowing septic
tanks and safety at work by for
ming DER and OSHA.”
As a result of the public com
ment and questions, the planning
committee agreed to look into the
problem of what happens if a
farmer wishes to keep a four or
five acre lot for himself when he
sells the farm; and ■clarifying the
requirement that 50 percent of a
product sold at the farm be
homegrown. ,