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Easement Acceptance - Land Preservation and Easement Program
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INFORMATION CONTACT:
Alan Aldridge, Soil and Water Conservation District, Director, 704-438-2535
ACTION REQUESTED:
Accept Easement 90-2026-005 into the Union County Land Preservation & Easement Program.
PRIOR BOARD ACTIONS:
None.
BACKGROUND:
Union County is currently ranked 13th in the United States for open space land loss on a per year basis according to the latest research published by the American Farmland Trust. Over the last four fiscal years, Union County has lost 3,191 acres (FY2020), 2,892 acres (FY2021), 3,625 acres (FY2022), and 2,419 acres (FY2023) from parcels enrolled in present use value (PUV) alone. According to the 2022 NCDA Census of
Agriculture, Union County has 186,626 acres of farmland. In the Business-as-Usual scenario published by NC FarmLink, Union County is slated to lose 51,500 acres of current farmland by 2040. This scenario would represent approximately a 28% reduction in total farmland acreage in Union County by 2040.
The Union County Land Preservation & Easement program allows landowners to sell and/or donate the development rights to their property while still obtaining ownership of the land. By selling and/or donating the development rights, open space and agricultural land will be preserved through conservation easements held by the Union County Soil & Water Conservation District. The District will be responsible for monitoring and inspections of easements to maintain compliance within the program. The use of present use value (PUV) rollback funds will provide financial resources to the Union County Soil & Water Conservation District for the easement purchases and all associated transaction costs. These funds are held in a Union County budget line and all non-encumbered funds will rollover at the end of each fiscal year.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
None.