COLUMBUS, Ohio More
and more legislation is being in
troduced in Ohio as the result of
increasing challenges between
farmers and non-fanners.
Urbanites who move out to the
country are often seeking more
space, a new home, a view and a
“simpler” lilfc. Meanwhile, af
fected farmers either want to con
tinue farming without competing
with homeowners for farmland,
or, at the other extreme, hope the
urban sprawl skyrockets their land
values so they can sell.
In many ways, farmland pre
servation has become an issue be
cause the people and communities
have decided to make it an issue,
said Larry Libby, an agricultural
economist who specializes in rural
and urban policy at Ohio State
University.
People are concerned for a
variety of reasons. They might
fear food will become scarce if ur
ban sprawl continues. They see
homes being built on farmland at
an increasing rate and they want
open spaces. Or, they see urban
areas being abandoned in favor of
newer communities.
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Rural, Urban Land Use Becoming Big Issue
They may recognize that land
use influences water quality and
affects wildlife habitats. They
may also recognize that changes
in land use affect their taxes and
the quality of services they re
ceive. Whatever the reason, Libby
said, it has propelled land use into
the legislative limelight
Recently, the Rural Responsi
bility Act was introduced by state
Sen. Karen Gillmor, R-Old Fort.
The bill mainly looks at the en
vironmental concerns of large
scale production farming. A pro
vision in the bill requires-people
buying property within a one-mile
radius of a farm to sign a disclo
sure that states they understand
that normal farming practices
might create noises and odors.
This is just one of the bills to
arise since the Ohio Farmland Pre
servation Task Force released its
recommendations earlier this year.
A group of Ohio legislators is in
the process of converting the re
commendations into a single
omnibus legislative bill, which in
cludes authority for communities
to purchase or lease development
rights from farmers. The bill.
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which is tentatively slated to be in
troduced in early December, will
also establish “agricultural securi
ty areas” where farming is clearly
die top priority.
Security zones and purchase of
development rights (PDR) pro
grams reduce the uncertainty of
the area’s development, Libby ex
plained. If farmers don’t reinvest
in the farm because they think the
area will be developed soon, they
become less competitive. Know
ing that the farm will be able to
operate without interference from
development encourages farmers
to maintain or even expand their
businesses.
The most important implication
of all these bills, whether they are
passed or not, is simply that they
have been proposed, Libby said.
The task force, the legislation and
other bills that address land use is
sues have given visibility to the is
sue of Ohio’s shifting population
and its effect on Ohio’s agricul
ture.
For every 1 percent increase in
population, urban land use in
creased 4.7 percent from 1960 to
1990, said Allen Prindle, an asso-
18 row 10”
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Farm Show Section 2, Lancaster Farming, Friday, January 9,190 S—Page 27
A] WHITE
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PRECISION PERFORMANCE
ciate professor of economics at
Otterbein College in Westerville,
who compiled trends data for the
task force. Prindle is taking a
sabbatical this quarter and work
ing at Ohio State University.
During 1982 to 1992, land used
for farming decreased 120,000
acres a year, or 7.5 percent. And,
the highest population growth is in
counties surrounding metro areas,
while population is on a decline or
slow growth in the center cities.
People also are moving out of the
rural southeastern Ohio counties.
Urban sprawl is expensive. Al
though taxes in new suburbs arc
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often higher, they arc not high
enough to pay for the new ser
vices, Libby said. People from
non-fann areas tend to see open
fields as unused space, when
actually the fields are a key part of
a food industry that is a major eco
nomic asset to the area.
“Some areas are going to con
tinue to grow no matter what,"
Prindle said. “People involved in
land use policies are trying to es
tablish a balance between eco
nomic growth, both urban and rur
al, and protection of the natural
and human resources used to sup
port it.”
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