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A. Guiding Principles behind this Plan <br />1. Integrate economic development with farmland protection. Keeping farms viable <br />is as important as protecting the resource base essential for farming and it is more <br />cost efficient. <br />2. Target agricultural and farmland protection initiatives toward blocks of viable <br />farmland. <br />3. Educate consumers and elected officials on the relationship between a healthy <br />local agricultural economy and the public benefits working farmland provide. <br />4. Give farmers incentives to protect farmland in giving them a fair return for the <br />benefits their stewardship of the land provides the non - farming public. <br />5. Examine the long -term cost effectiveness of incentive programs that compensate <br />farmers for not developing their land. By combining tax, spending and regulatory <br />programs, local communities can strongly support agriculture and meet budgetary <br />needs. <br />6. Develop land use policies and zoning ordinances that work for agriculture. <br />Conventional "large -lot" zoning is ineffective because it accelerates residential <br />development and converts agricultural areas into lots that are too small to farm. <br />7. Encourage inter - municipal cooperation. Since farming spans town and county <br />borders, farmland protection requires cooperation between towns and among <br />levels of government. Efforts to promote development in one town can derail <br />farmland protection efforts in bordering towns. <br />8. Develop a coalition of interests to support agricultural and farmland protection <br />efforts. Reach out to non - farmers by organizing farmers' markets, farm events <br />and workshops. Unite the farmland protection interests of farm and non -farm <br />community members by protecting farmland that provides scenic views, includes <br />important water resources, or preserves historic landscapes. <br />9. Promote thoughtful land use planning to prevent conflicts between farmers and <br />neighbors. Manage residential growth in farming communities; buffer farms from <br />neighboring large -scale residential developments. <br />B. Existing Efforts and Agricultural Protection Tools <br />1. County Comprehensive Land Use Plan <br />2. County Voluntary Agricultural District Program. As noted above in Article II, <br />the North Carolina General Assembly enabled counties to adopt Voluntary <br />Agricultural District (VAD) ordinances to effectively create areas "to increase <br />identity and pride in the agricultural community and its way of life and to increase <br />protection from nuisance suits and other negative impacts on properly managed <br />farm S.,,20 Farmers, by enrolling their farm in a VAD by entering into a revocable <br />agreement with the county to forego developing their land for a period of ten <br />years, enjoy certain protections of their operation, including waiver of sewer and <br />water assessments, record notice to non -farm neighbors of proximity to a farming <br />operation, and public hearing before condemnation of farm property by eminent <br />domain. On November 17, 2005, Cabarrus County passed a VAD ordinance <br />whereby land protections were adopted. Also pursuant to the ordinance, an <br />Agricultural Advisory Board was appointed by the Board of County <br />Commissioners to represent agricultural interests in the county. zi While the <br />Attachment number 1 <br />G -1 Page 205 <br />