Preserving Open Space and Farmland
An Opinion Column by Delaware's Secretary of Agriculture, Michael Scuse
Preservation of open space and farmland has been a top priority of Governor Minner through her Livable Delaware agenda. Since 2001, more than 21,000 acres of open space have been preserved in Sussex County at a cost of about $60.4 million - the result of collaborative efforts between the state, conservation organizations, the federal government and the county.
Since Delaware's farmland preservation program was established in 1996, 159 Sussex farms totaling 25,821 acres have been permanently protected from development at a cost of $37.6 million. This year, the General Assembly passed legislation earmarking $10 million a year for farmland preservation from Realty Transfer Tax revenues.
For the first time, state agencies are in agreement about what our priorities should be for preserving our "Green Infrastructure," parcels and green links between parcels that provide valuable habitat for plants and animals, allow for water recharge and prevent flooding, reduce pollution, and enhance our quality of life.
But land preservation by itself cannot guide growth and guarantee responsible land-use decisions in Sussex County or anywhere else in Delaware, as an October 7 Cape Gazette editorial suggested. Every time a developer proposes a project that violates the county's own comprehensive plan and Delaware's Strategies for State Policies and Spending, should the state be expected to step in and buy the parcel?
The proposed Isaac's Glen development is adjacent to the 908-acre Ponders Tract, which the state and The Nature Conservancy just purchased last year for $2.7 million. Sprawl devalues that and many other investments and hurts farmers who made the long-term commitment not to develop their land. We are very pleased that Sussex County followed its comprehensive plan and denied the project, but an alternative plan already has been submitted for the property.
The problem isn't the state's lack of a land preservation effort. As the numbers show, we a very strong program, but it does not substitute for reasonable restraints on the development of rural lands.
As Secretary of Agriculture, my job is to protect and promote the profitability and sustainability of agriculture in Delaware. Maintaining a critical mass of agricultural lands free from residential encroachment and traffic is key to that sustainability.
But with Sussex County's Agricultural-Residential (A-R) zoning and cluster ordinance, two houses per acre can be built virtually anywhere in the county, seriously dimming the future of farming downstate. Compare that density to our neighboring counties in Maryland: Wicomico County requires a minimum lot size of 15 acres per house; Dorchester, Talbot and Caroline only permit one house per 20 acres; and Kent County, Maryland, in some areas, has a 30-acre requirement. Even New Castle County requires a minimum of 5 acres in its rural Suburban Reserve zone.
The prospect of town-scale developments popping up all over rural downstate Delaware, without infrastructure and far from services, prompted the Minner Administration to propose the Sprawl Prevention Act. House Bill 280 would prevent the permitting by DNREC of community wastewater systems in areas that counties and the state have designated as rural. It also requires a minimum lot size of 4 acres, the same as Kent County. The larger lot size has been very effective at limiting development in southern New Castle County.
As a companion to House Bill 280, we are preparing Transfer of Development Rights legislation that will give farmers and other rural landowners another tool to preserve the value of their land. TDR preserves land at no cost to taxpayers, gives the landowner a market-based price for a permanent easement, and promotes more efficient development in designated growth areas.
Many developers and even some farmers predict that agriculture in Delaware will be dead in 15 years. That's a crock. Farm Futures magazine, in its September issue, ranked Sussex County 50th out of 3,000 counties on its list of most profitable places to farm. The magazine looked at net profits per farm, sales growth, asset growth and profit growth.
Because of Delaware's location between major metropolitan areas, those profits could explode if we move into more consumer-driven, value-added products to serve those urban populations and meet the needs of the biotech industry. But only if all levels of government work together to get a grip on growth.
