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HERE'S A QUICK OVERVIEW:
Florida |
North Carolina |
Oregon | California |
Other States
Florida
Ave Maria project in Collier
County sets precedent for conservation.
As a December 19, 2004 article in the Naples Daily News
states:
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Though Florida is a magnet for development, this project sticks
out from the rest because it's the first to take advantage of a
3-year-old state law that encourages both development and
preservation of land.
Ave Maria is quickly becoming a project that planners,
developers and environmentalists say will be looked upon years
from now as the first successful user of Florida's rural land
stewardship program.
"People will look back a decade from now, and we'll have
protected a million acres of land based on this model," said
Eric Draper, policy director for Audubon of Florida. "And we'll
say, 'It all started right there in Immokalee.'"
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To read entire article, click
Ave Maria project sets precedent
for conservation.
For more information on Ave Maria, go the
web site for WilsonMiller, the planning/design firm that
created the
documentation to put concepts for the Rural Lands Stewardship Program in
place: click here.
Citrus growers organization takes lead on rural
land planning. Urban growth and the impact that
this has on rural land planning is one of the most pressing issues on the
minds of the growers who make up the membership of the 50-year-old Indian
River Citrus League (IRCL -
http://www.ircitrusleague.org).
The League represents almost 2,000 growers in five counties on Florida's
central east coast. As IRCL Executive Vice President, Doug Bournique,
explains:
| "We don’t
have the luxury of a lot more time. Huge tracts of land
have come up for sale that you would have thought would have
lasted 20 more years. These chunks of the Treasure Coast and the
central east coast of Florida are now transitioning very
quickly." |
Last year, the League formed a Rural Lands
Committee to address these issues. It invited its members, as well as
other private landowners who operate rural enterprises, to participate.
State legislators, county planners and even environmental organizations have
come to the League's Rural Lands Committee to ask for assistance, saying
they would welcome any suggestions that the committee is able to formulate.
Committee activities are described in a
December 2004 update prepared by Committee Chair, Pete Spyke. To view,
click IRCL
Rural Lands Committee Report
Eglin Air Force Base Flyway/Greenway in
Florida's Panhandle.
Eglin Air Force Base, the
nation’s largest air base and the leading test facility for the development
of “smart weapons,” is concerned that future housing and commercial
development might make it impossible to continue using airspace over
surrounding civilian areas for missions such as low-level training flights
and weapons testing. This is a growing concern for military installations
located in fast-growth areas throughout the U.S. The way this issue is
handled around Eglin may provide a model for other bases in the U.S.
Eglin
officials have proposed protecting the base's airspace by blocking most
development in a largely
forested area of the Florida
Panhandle 100 miles long and 10 miles wide. For details, see
Associated Press news story
from October 2003.
It has
become apparent, however, that there is not enough money to make the
necessary land purchases and not enough landowners willing to commit to
conservation easements to fully protect the airspace.
As a
result, the Rural Lands Stewardship Program is now being investigated as a
tool that will use market economy forces to pay for protecting the air
space, while protecting private property rights. Its main attraction is that
it would allow landowners within the flyway/greenway to not only continue
compatible economic uses on their properties, but to benefit from a
financial return from economic growth and development that takes place on
other properties.
Private Landowner/Private Developer initiatives.
Two privately initiated
projects are in the early stages of planning. The basic concept is that
private owners are looking at creating Rural Land Stewardship Areas on areas
of 20,000 to 40,000 acres. The concepts have been very well received by
policy makers.
This has been made
possible by the new flexibility created by the
legislative refinements approved in April 2004 (see
legislation). Two of these
refinements allow smaller
project sizes and allow private landowners to initiate projects.
Developers are
now working directly with private landowners and have suggested the use of the RLSP as a way of accomplishing their development goals. This is exciting. It
adds new opportunities for the RLSP. And it adds new market incentives to
move it forward. Here's one example:
Privately Initiated RLSP - St. Lucie County.
This
Rural Lands Stewardship project is being funded by a
private developer. The developer was attracted to the project because of the
benefits the Rural Lands Stewardship Program (RLSP) could provide.
Development will be allowed in an area outside an established urban service
area in return for the way in which the RLSP will provide for the protection
of significant habitat and wetland resources, and allow for the continued
operation of agricultural lands. The program also will result in a
settlement pattern that promises high market appeal.
This project offers a new,
market-driven approach to implementing – and paying for – the RLSP, one that
is built on arrangements between private landowners and developers that
benefit both parties, while also accommodating multiple public interests,
including the protection of natural resources, maintaining open space and
rural character, and providing for the continued operation of viable
agricultural enterprises.
For
details, see
TCPalm news story, March 2005.
North Carolina
Four counties in North Carolina cooperated in preparing a
proposal to obtain funding through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Conservation Innovation Grant Program to initiate a joint planning effort
based on Florida's Rural Lands Stewardship Program. The funding request was
not approved, but interest still exists in finding other approaches to explore
rural land stewardship concepts.
One
of the counties,
Johnston County, is one of the largest and most rapidly growing
counties in the North Carolina. It has a land area of 792 square miles, 10
incorporated areas, and two interstates (I-40 and I-95) that meet near the
central part of the county. The county has increased its population by 64%
since 1990, growing from 81,300 in 1990 to over 133,100 as of July 1, 2002.
Historically rural, the county has seen widespread residential and
commercial growth from west to east as a result of the adjacent Research
Triangle (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) region. As County Manager Rick
Hester wrote in the grant application:
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“The goals of
the RLSP in Florida are exactly the same as our goals in Johnson
County: preserve open space and farmland through private
investment and maintain the viability of agricultural
operations, while accommodating, streamlining, and reducing the
overall footprint of development.
“… in Johnson
County, we have faced tremendous development pressures over the
past several years from the rapid growth of
Raleigh/Durham. These pressures have significantly reduced
farming and farmland, and created congestion and new
environmental challenges in our communities. These problems are
only likely to get worse as development pressures increase in
coming years.” |
The
other counties -- Franklin, Wake and Wayne -- also are historically rural,
are experiencing similar growth pressures and are interested in the Rural
Lands Stewardship Program for the same reasons.
Oregon
At the
end of November 2004 the New York Times ran a front page article:
"Property Rights Law May Alter Oregon Landscape" --
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/26/national/26property.html
As the first 3
paragraphs of the article state --
"Over the past three
decades, Oregon has earned a reputation for having the most restrictive
land-use rules in the nation. Housing was grouped in and near the cities,
while vast parcels of farmland and forests were untouched by as much as a
suburban cul-de-sac.
"Environmentalists and
advocates for 'smart growth' cheered the ever-growing list of rules as
visionary, while some landowners, timber companies and political allies
cried foul.
"But in a matter of
days, the landowners will get a chance to turn the tables. Under a ballot
measure approved on Nov. 2, property owners who can prove that environmental
or zoning rules have hurt their investments can force the government to
compensate them for the losses - or get an exemption from the rules."
This ballot measure has
placed the state in a "crisis mode" – with all levels of government facing
the likely prospect of having to pay millions of dollars in claims, which
landowners started filing Dec. 2, as well as facing the prospect that, if
the claims are not paid, the state's bucolic areas could become major
magnets for uncontrolled development.
This "crisis" will be
forcing the state to look at alternative approaches to accomplish its land
use goals. The good news is, there is a new approach, all ready to go –
possibly even THE RIGHT ONE TO ADDRESS THIS SITUATION: see Florida projects
above and article from Naples Daily News,
Ave Maria sets precedent
for conservation.
California
Ranchers in San Benito County -- an inland county south of San Jose and east
of Monterey which is noted for its farms and ranches, wineries, Spanish
Mission (the largest of California's missions), quaint towns and rolling
hills -- have begun discussions with local planners about using the Rural
Land Stewardship Program concepts to address growth issues in the county.
Two articles describing the
evolution of the program – and the response it is receiving – are available
for viewing by clicking on the links below:
Hollister Free Lance: A New Kind of Stewardship
The
Pinnacle: Can a Growth Plan Please Everyone?
Other
States
Interest is being shown in the Rural Lands Stewardship Program from county
planners, economic development councils, "visioning" groups and private
landowners in several other locales as well. More needs to be done to
explain the concept, however, and to demonstrate how it can help these
groups meet their local planning, land use and economic development
objectives.
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