Evaluate the role that land use regulations and other forms of land-based policies, such as farmland preservation, play in making agriculture successful or unsuccessful in an urbanizing environment .
Authors: Matt Royer
Other contributors: Matt Ehrhart, Dave Abler, and Lisa Wainger
Applying Smart Growth policies, including expanded zoning urban growth boundaries and easements, to mitigate the conflict between urban expansion and agricultural production, ensuring both sectors can thrive.
Many ideas for scenarios emerged from discussions with the Stakeholder Advisory Board. Two ideas became the foundation for Scenario 3. One was to support strong farmland preservation and smart growth strategies that minimize the development of productive farmland and also reward sound farm stewardship to maintain productivity. Specific actions around this idea included prioritizing prime farmland and agricultural production in preservation efforts, integrating farming and food production into zoning practices, and developing and implementing environmentally sound lease agreements for rented ground. The second idea centered on empowering local government to enact local solutions. Many of the elements of Warwick Township's integrated program (Lancaster County, PA) that were shared at the February 2020 Thriving Ag kickoff meeting were viewed by stakeholders as an effective model for other local governments. These include establishment of Transferrable Development Rights (TDR) programs to fund local government agricultural preservation programs, requiring conservation plans to obtain building permits, proactively assisting farmers with access to grants and funding programs to reach soil and water conservation goals, and actively promoting and marketing the program’s role in providing open space and other shared values, thus achieving broad community and business support.
Conversations about land-use regulations and policies, and the pressures on agriculture from development, were prevalent throughout the project. The project team encouraged stakeholders to think critically about how land-use regulations and other land-based policies, such as farmland preservation programs, have impacted farming operations in both positive and negative ways, and how different types of policies may affect producers and others in the future. Land, however, is often subject to a host of regulations that can impact its availability and productivity. At the federal and state levels, these policies may stem from rules related to air, water, and ecosystem quality, and at local levels, they often stem from policies related to zoning, transportation, the environment, farmland preservation, or nuisance-related issues.
Smart growth policies, which are implemented through zoning, urban growth boundaries, land preservation, and other mechanisms, aim to reduce the amount of natural and agricultural land converted to residential, commercial and other developed uses, while supporting population growth. Such programs aim to generate benefits of preserving open space (including forests, wetlands, and agricultural lands), reducing GHG and air pollution emissions, and lowering municipal management costs. Such policies can be complex to implement, given the strong market forces that drive land development. Statistical modeling was used by the team to assess the drivers of land value, which is an indicator of development pressure, and how values vary spatially. Such understanding can be used in the design of smart growth policies to promote effectiveness.
References
Wrenn, Douglas H., H. Allen Klaiber, and David A. Newburn. 2019. "Price Based Policies for Managing Residential Development: Impacts on Water Quality." Resource and Energy Economics. 58 (November): 101-115. doi.org/10.1016/j.reseneeco.2019.101115
Wrenn, Douglas H. and H. Allen Klaiber. 2019. "Space and Time: A Competing Risks Analysis of the Impact of Property Taxes and Zoning Restrictions on Residential Development." International Economic Review. 60(3): 1097-1130. doi.org/10.1111/iere.12380
