Chatham County Voluntary Agricultural District Program

What Are Voluntary Agricultural Districts?

Many urban dwellers are moving into rural settings, but do not understand or appreciate that living next door to a farm may include such issues as noise, odors, dusts, insects or early morning/late night schedules of farmers. This has resulted in nuisance suits being filed by new rural residents against their farm neighbors. To help prevent some of these problems the State of North Carolina has enabled counties to adopt Voluntary Agriculture Districts. The objectives of Voluntary Agricultural Districts are:

• To encourage the preservation of farmland.

• To provide farmers protection from nuisance suits

• To protect farmers (major landowners) from bearing the financial burden of infrastructure development.

  
  

  Who Qualifies?

  To qualify a farm must be:
  • Participating in farm land-use taxation
  • Be certified as a farm by NRCS or
  • Managed according to SCS erosion control practices or
  • Subject of conservation agreement

    Final qualification will be determined by the Chatham County Agricultural Advisory Board following submission of application by the farm/landowner.

    Notification

    For farms participating in a Voluntary Agricultural District, county records at both the tax and register of deeds offices will show on their maps farms which are a part of any voluntary agricultural district. When title searches are done for property purchases, those farms will be identified as neighboring existing farms in Chatham County. This will serve as prior notification to the purchaser that they are purchasing a home or land located in close proximity to an operating agricultural enterprise.

    
    

    Notification Distances

    Potential purchasers of homes or land will be notified if the home or land they are planning to purchase is within one mile of a voluntary agricultural district.

    Benefits For The Participant

    • Protection from infrastructure development

      If water or sewer lines are run across your property, any cost-share charges will be held in abeyance until the land is sold, or landowner hooks onto the system, at no interest.

    • Public Hearings

      No government agency or public utility can begin condemnation proceedings for a farm listed in a voluntary agricultural district without a public hearing. Then the entity wanting the land will have to show that other alternatives other than taking a farm have been examined.

    A Voluntary Program

    This is a voluntary program. No farm will be required to participate. The term of the agreement is ten years, however, a landowner may revoke this agreement at any time by notifying the agricultural advisory board in writing.

    
    

    How To Apply

    A voluntary agricultural district in Chatham County must be comprised of at least twenty acres. These twenty acres do not have to be contiguous. However, they must be located within one mile of each other. If you do not meet the minimum land qualifications you may find neighbors who are also interested in forming a district and join together to meet the minimum acreage qualifications.

    To make an application, contact either the Chatham County Managers Office at 919-542-8200 or the Chatham County Center of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service at 919-542-8202 to receive an application. Fill out the application and return it to the Chatham County Managers Office. From there it will go before Chatham County Agricultural Advisory Board for acceptance or denial. If accepted by the board the farm will be in a voluntary agricultural district.

    Steps in Application Procedure

    1. Receive application from County Managers or Extension Office.
    2. Return application to Managers Office.
    3. Application will be pre-approved by staff member of Extension, Soil and Water or Farm Service Agency.
    4. Application will be given final approval by the county Agricultural Advisory Board.
    5. Information will go to Register of Deeds and Tax Office for mapping.
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    For More Information Contact Either:

    Chatham County Managers Office
    Post Office Box 87
    Pittsboro, North Carolina 27312

    Telephone: 919.542.8200

    Chatham County Center
    North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service
    Post Office Box 279
    Pittsboro, North Carolina 27312

    Telephone: 919.542.8202
    Homepage: http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/chatham/
    E-mail: sam_groce@ncsu.edu

    

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    This page was created by Susan Graham, Adm. Extension Secretary

    Date Created 02/27/02.