Anne Arundel is known for its farmland and open spaces, and county officials are willing to dole out millions to keep that image.
“As soon as a potential agricultural property is pointed out, we make it one of our properties of interest,” said Frank Marzucco, director of the county?s Department of Recreation and Parks.
Since 1980, the county has preserved 12,000 acres of farmland and wooded areas, an effort costing $26 million through state and county funds, with about $3 million remaining.
The reasoning is simple: Keep Anne Arundel green and curb sprawl.
Yet the effort is complex, using tax codes and zoning laws to find financial incentives so the county can buy development rights or outright buy the land from farmers.
In fact, investors must pay fees if farmland is developed, and that money goes into preserving land.
But Anne Arundel is behind other counties in terms of acreage, with Baltimore and Carroll counties preserving four times more.
“We?ve got a lot of work to do in Anne Arundel,” said Carol Council, an administrator with the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation.
However, in the past 10 years, more than half of the preserved land has come since the mid-1990s.
County Executive John R. Leopold made land preservation a key component of his administration, pushing for the purchase of land in Waysons Corner where a Target store was planned, and scoring primary leasing rights for the 850-acre U.S. Naval Academy Dairy Farm in Gambrills.
“I think the county is doing a great job,” said Scott Hymes, president of the Crownsville Conservancy, which has saved about 15 acres.
Hymes said the county should focus on forested buffers around waterways to limit runoff. However, “it?s hard to expect the county to dish out millions of dollars when people?s services are being cut,” he said.
SAVING LAND
A breakdown of how much rural land is preserved through easement purchases and land trusts, and how that effort cost:
County Acres Cost (in millions)
Baltimore 53,000 $7.6 (2004-06)
Carroll 50,285 $95
Anne Arundel 12,000 $26.5
Harford – n/a
Howard – n/a
