Cleveland Plain Dealer www.cleveland.com   WEEKLY FARM: Ballot initiatives aim to preserve farmland By PHILIP BRASHER The Associated Press 8/21/00 12:09 AM WASHINGTON (AP) -- The 913 acres of Ohio land that Geoff Mavis farms already are worth as much as $4,000 an acre, he figures, and the land gets more valuable as the suburbs of Columbus, Dayton and Cincinnati creep toward it. While Mavis has no intention of selling to a developer, he worries that other farmers will, following the lead of his neighbor who sold off a tract where a group of prefabricated houses will go up soon. Ohio could become the latest state to pay farmers like Mavis to keep their land in cultivation rather than selling to developers. A bond issue on the state ballot in November would provide $25 million for such payments. "Low commodity prices have contributed to the fact that it's hard to make a living farming," said Mavis, who lives in Bloomingburg, Ohio. "As land goes up value-wise, according to the nearby development, it becomes a real incentive for (a farmer) to sell." In 1998, voters approved 29 of 32 local and statewide ballot initiatives on farmland preservation, according to groups that track the issue. So far this year, at least six will appear on ballots, including the Ohio bond issue and several county referenda in California and other states. Additional measures are expected to be added to the November ballot in coming weeks. "What we're seeing is the continuation of the trend," said Robyn Miller, a spokeswoman for American Farmland Trust, a preservation advocacy group. "1998 set such a high-water mark. There was really quite a demand for this protection of private land." Nearly 16 million acres of land were converted to development between 1992 and 1997 -- a rate of 3.2 million per year, more than double the conversion rate from 1982 to 1992, according to an Agriculture Department study. That has driven up land values in many rural areas, providing a windfall to many farmers who live near cities and choose to retire and sell their land. Critics of the trend, including Vice President Al Gore, say it is hurting the environment and quality of living around the nation's cities. The conversion rate has not accelerated in Ohio, according to the USDA study, but the state lost 314,000 acres of crop land from 1992 to 1997, leaving it with slightly over 9 million acres. Nineteen states have started programs that pay farmers for development rights, led by Pennsylvania, which has so far spent $240 million, and Maryland at $200 million. Under such programs, farmers continue to own the land but are barred from pursuing nonfarm activities. Supporters say the programs help channel sprawl and maintain farm clusters needed to ensure a viable agricultural supply and support network. The 1996 federal farm law set aside $35 million over six years to supplement state and local efforts, but the money lasted only three years and met fewer than one in five requests. Other farmland preservation measures on the ballot this fall: --In Washington County, Minn. -- the Minneapolis-St. Paul suburbs -- voters will decide whether to authorize a property tax increase to pay for buying development rights. --In San Luis Obisbo and Sonoma counties in California, voter approval would be required for any zoning changes for rural and agricultural land and any increases in housing density. Similar ballot initiatives were passed in Napa and Ventura counties. --In Alameda County, Calif., voters will decide on the "Save Agriculture and Open Space Lands Initiative" that would establish a boundary on urban growth. --In Arizona, the "Citizen's Growth Management Initiative" would allow local governments to restrict growth and levy fees to pay for increased services that are necessitated by development.

 

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