AGRICULTURAL PRESERVATION

Howard County Agricultural Land Preservation Program (ALPP)
Howard County Agricultural Land Preservation Board
Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Program (MALPF)
Howard Ag Newsletter
Other Ag Resources

Batch 14 Update | Batch 14 Brochure | Press Release |

County Makes Preservation Offers

County Executive Ken Ulman is very pleased to announce that easement acquisition offers have recently been made to 7 of the 13 applicants in the Agricultural Land Preservation Program’s (ALPP) “Batch 14” application cycle. These offers have the potential to add over 1,000 acres to the 20,500 acres already preserved by the Program. The Howard County Agricultural Land Preservation Board (ALPB) completed its review of the 13 applicant properties in November, after several months of public hearings. The ALPB was charged with completing the scoring of each property, a process which determines the final price per acre that the County will offer the property owner for their development rights.

The scoring system is based on characteristics that rate a property based on its agricultural viability – factors such as size, soils capability and adjacency to other protected land. The maximum score is $40,000 per acre; however the average of the 7 properties being made offers is $32,200 per acre. The score is also used in a competitive batch such as the current one to rank the properties in the order in which acquisitions will be made, from highest to lowest. There is not enough funding currently available to purchase easements on all of the applicant parcels, so only the following 7 property owners will be made an offer at this time: Camilla and Philip Carroll (500 acres), Genevieve Carroll (61 acres), Teige Carroll (61 acres), Ian Carroll (56 acres), Leona Stedding (90 acres), Marshall Rea (160 acres) and Mario and Serafina Mannarelli (107 acres).

Information may be obtained from Joy Levy, Administrator, Agricultural Land Preservation Program, Howard County Department of Planning & Zoning, 3430 Court House Drive, Ellicott City, MD 21043, 410-313-5407, or email jlevy@howardcountymd.gov.

Farmland Forever Signs | Order Form | Sample Sign |

If you would like to show your pride in preservation, please complete and return the form to Joy Levy, ALPP Administrator, at 3430 Court House Drive, Ellicott City, MD 21043. Joy can also be reached at 410-313-5407 or jlevy@howardcountymd.gov.

Since 1978, Howard County has been protecting farmland through the Agricultural Land Preservation Program (ALPP) using three methods:

(1) the purchase of agricultural preservation easements by the County,
(2) the dedication of agricultural preservation parcels as provided for in the County's zoning regulations, and
(3) the purchase of agricultural preservation easements by the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation.

Using these tools, the County has preserved over 20,000 acres of farmland in the Rural West of Howard County.

County Purchased Easements | See Batch 14 Announced Above

Through this voluntary program, a farmer whose land meets certain size and soil criteria can offer to sell a perpetual easement to the County, while holding fee simple title to the land and continuing to farm. The farm may be sold, but the easement, which restricts the development of the property, remains with the land and binds all future owners.

Forms and Procedures | Owner/Child Lot Process | Unrestricted Lot Process | Letter of Intent | Letter of Understanding/Owner Lot| Letter of Understanding/Child Lot | Tenant House Application |

In order for property owners to exercise the lot and dwelling rights they retain upon entering the ALPP purchased easement program, there are certain procedures that must be followed and forms to be filled out.

Policy | Permitted Uses | Forest Conservation | Parcel Division| Lot Location | Tenant House Update| Nontidal Wetland Mitigation|

The primary regulatory framework for the ALPP is Section 15.500 of the Howard County Code. In addition to the laws that govern the program, there are many policies that implement its goals.

County Dedicated Easements | Density/Cluster Exchange Option | Application Form| Soil Conservation Form|

The ALPP also accepts agricultural easements dedicated to the County as a result of the subdivision process, either as density sending parcels or cluster subdivision residue parcels.

In addition to easements purchased by the Howard County ALPP, the MALPF program also purchases agricultural easements, and has acquired almost 4,000 easement acres in Howard County. The MALPF program is administered locally, which means that any questions or requests pertaining to MALPF properties should be directed to Joy Levy.

Easement Termination | Termination Policy |

All MALPF easements prior to 2004 contain a provision that allows a property owner to petition to buy back their development rights from the State after 25 years, if it can be shown that profitable farming is no longer feasible on the property.

For an easement to be terminated, both MALPF and the county's governing body must approve the owner's request. MALPF's responsibilty is to judge economic feasibility. Howard County executive Ken Ulman has approved a policy for termination review that focuses on land use priorities, including consistency with comprehensive planning goals and the effect of termination on vicinal properties.

The original intent of the MALPF easement was that it would be perpetual, and that termination would require extraordinary circumstances. Howard County will work very hard to protect the investment it has made in agricultural preservation over the years.

The ALPB makes recommendations to the County Executive on the acquisition of new agricultural land preservation easement properties, reviews proposals concerning land already subject to an easement and assists ALPP staff with policy creation and refinement.

This quartlerly newsletter consolidates the communications of the ALPP, the Howard County Economic Development Authority's Agricultural Marketing Program and the Howard County Cooperative Extension office.

The ALPP works closely with other agencies within the County to provide support to the agricultural community.

Temporary office relocated to 8930 Stanford Boulevard, Columbia, MD 21045
Department of Planning and Zoning | 3430 Court House Drive | Ellicott City, MD 21043
Monday-Friday: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm | Phone: 410-313-2350 | Fax: 410-313-3467