Howard County is purchasing land to preserve as the county tries to beat out developers in the race for property.
“The price [developers] were offering was increasing a lot and quickly, and we felt we were competing against that,” Joy Levy, administrator of Howard?s agricultural land preservation program, said of Howard?s decision last fall to double the maximum amount of money it would pay landowners to $40,000.
Now, the Howard County Council will consider authorizing the county to acquire an easement on property in West Friendship owned by Thomas Grimes for a maximum price of $1.7 million.
So far, the agricultural land preservation program, funded mostly by a portion of the local transfer tax, has preserved about 20,000 acres, including more than 166 acres in Mount Airy for $6.6 million, Levy said.
Before the latest round, which selected three properties for preservation, the last easement was acquired in June 2002, she said.
The per-acre cost in Howard is higher than in other jurisdictions, but surrounding counties also are feeling the pressure from development.
“In the last several years, we have dramatically increased what we can pay for development rights,” said Ned Sayre, outreach specialist in Harford?s agricultural land preservation program.
In the latest round for easements, Harford received 50 applications but could accept only 13 properties because of the amount of money available, he said.
Preserving land is less expensive for counties, because it concentrates development around existing infrastructure, such as roads, and schools.
Preserving open space adds to residents quality of life, and supporting local farmers has sparked a renewed interest, officials said.
“It?s been shown that locally grown produce is the most healthy, and you don?t have the transportation costs and the carbon imprint that it takes from transporting across the country,” said Marcia Verploegen Lewis, director of Partners for Open Space, a statewide coalition of conservation groups.
BY THE NUMBERS
Cost area county governments pay to preserve agricultural land:
» Howard: Maximum of $40,000 per acre
» Anne Arundel: $9,000 to $12,000 per acre for three county and state preservation programs
» Harford: Maximum of $15,000 per acre or $130,000 per development
» Baltimore: Maximum of $6,000 per acre
» Carroll: 70 percent of the appraised value of the land
Source: County officials
