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June 2, 2004FARMLAND: Counties team up to preserve land
Record-Eagle/Lara Neel Dorance Amos is one of the farmers in the Grand Traverse region concerned about farmland preservation, particularly his family's cherry orchard in Elk Rapids. GT, Antrim will be in better shape for fundsByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - Fourth-generation cherry farmer Dorance Amos was a bit apprehensive when people started talking about purchasing development rights to preserve farms. He was leery of programs that bought farmland and tucked it away simply as open space. "We've watched how the Grand Traverse Land Conservancy has preserved some farmland, and it became a park," Amos said. But now Amos, of Elk Rapids Township, whose family has more than 800 acres of cherry orchards, is advocating a proposed two-county ordinance that sets up a farmland purchase-of-development-rights program. "We've spent a lot of time on this ordinance and I'm pretty proud of it," Amos said. More than two years ago five townships - Milton, Elk Rapids and Torch Lake in Antrim County and Whitewater and Acme townships in Grand Traverse County - asked the Michigan Farmland Trust about preserving farmland. The townships obtained funding and county support for a farmland preservation task force that eventually produced the ordinance. Under the proposal, Grand Traverse and Antrim counties would have the only multi-county purchase-of-development rights program in the state, giving local communities a leg up on competition for limited grant funding. Each county would adopt an identical ordinance that establishes a six-person committee. The two committees would then be joined. The committee would rank applications for the purchase of development rights based on criteria in the ordinance, starting with the requirement that the property is a productive farm. "These have to be active farms - we are not just buying up acreage," said Grand Traverse County Prosecuting Attorney Dennis LaBelle, who helped draft portions of the proposed ordinance. "For all practical purposes it is going to remain in that condition (farming) forever." For supporters, preserving quality farmland for future generations is key. "Farmland is a very precious resource," said Norm Veliquette, an Elk Rapids farmer and president of a cherry processing business. "Like the air we breath, it's something we have to have." The program doesn't claim to be the answer for making farms economically viable, Amos said. "We are really about preserving the land and hopefully someone in the future will be able to figure out how to farm it to make money," Amos said. "But they can't do that without the land. "The very places you grow cherries are the best places for development," he said. Both counties will leave funding up to individual townships, officials said. The program is set up to allow the townships to opt into the program and come up with their own funding. "Those five townships are pretty excited about it. I'm sure they'll want to do something to fund it," Antrim County Coordinator Pete Garwood said. Peninsula Township currently has the only such property tax in the two counties. Groups that provide grant money like regional efforts and innovation, Peninsula Township planner Gordon Hayward said. The multi-county program will improve local communities' scoring on grant applications. Peninsula Township has purchased $7.5 million in development rights since 1996, Hayward said. The township tapped state and federal grants for $3.9 million, not including state and private purchases the township recommended but didn't fund. Grand Traverse County will hold a public hearing on the proposal at 7:30 a.m. June 15 at the Governmental Center. The earliest the board will vote on the ordinance is June 30. Antrim County will hold a public hearing at 9 a.m. June 10 at the County Building and might vote on it then, Garwood said.
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