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(a) A landowner seeking to place land under an agricultural easement must file a petition with the APAB requesting an application for the purchase of an easement by the Foundation.
(b) The APAB must advise the County Council whether the applicant’s land meets the qualifications established by the Foundation and recommend whether the Foundation should buy an agricultural easement.
(c) The APAB must refer the application to the Planning Board. The Planning Board must advise the Council if:
(1) the proposed agricultural easement is compatible with existing and approved County plans and overall policy; and
(2) the Planning Board recommends buying an agricultural easement on the applicant’s land.
(d) If either the APAB or the Planning Board recommends approval, the County Council must hold a public hearing on the proposed easement. The Office must give adequate notice of the hearing to the owner of any land adjacent to the proposed agricultural easement.
(e) The Council must decide if the application for the proposed agricultural easement should be recommended to the Foundation for approval.
(1) If the Council recommends approval of the application, the Council must notify and forward to the Foundation its recommendation and relevant information about the proposed easement, including the recommendations of the APAB and the Planning Board.
(2) If the Council recommends denial of the application, the Council must notify the Foundation and the landowner of its decision.
(f) The Foundation may approve an application for a proposed agricultural easement only if:
(1) the land in the proposed agricultural easement meets the following qualifications established by the Foundation:
(A) any productivity, acreage, and locational criteria necessary to continue farming;
(B) the land must be at least 50 acres; and
(C) any other eligibility requirement in Subtitle 5 of Title 2 of the Agriculture Article;
(2) the Council recommended approval of the proposed easement; and
(3) a majority of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees approves buying the proposed easement.
(g) If the Foundation buys an agricultural easement, the County may make an additional payment to the landowner of up to 15% of the State’s purchase price of the easement under regulations issued under this Chapter. The Executive must specify the percentage used to determine the payment each year and publish that number in the County Register.
(h) (1) The procedures governing State agricultural easements, including the application process, the maximum value of any easement bought, the source of funds to buy an easement, and the restrictions required in easements, are contained in Subtitle 5 of Title 2 of the Agriculture Article and the regulations issued under Subtitle 5 of Title 2.
(2) If any conflict arises between this Chapter and its regulations and Subtitle 5 of Title 2 and its regulations, the State law and State regulations govern.
(i) The Office must work with the State to record each State agricultural easement in the County land records. The recordation of a State agricultural easement is not subject to any County recordation or transfer tax. (2008 L.M.C., ch. 37, § 1; 2015 L.M.C., ch. 36, § 1.)
(a) Permitted uses. The following activities are permitted on land under a State agricultural easement:
(1) any agricultural use of land;
(2) operation at any time of any machinery used in farm production or the primary processing of agricultural products;
(3) any normal agricultural operations performed in accordance with good husbandry practices which does not cause bodily injury or directly endanger human health; and
(4) sale of farm products at a farm market.
(b) Uses not permitted; release.
(1) Land under a State agricultural easement must not be subdivided or used for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes. However, the Foundation may approve, after receiving a written application, the release of any easement restriction for:
(A) the landowner who originally sold the easement, to use 1 acre or less to build one or more dwelling houses for the use only of that landowner or a child of the landowner, up to a maximum of 3 lots, subject to the requirements in Subtitle 5 of Title 2 of the Agriculture Article; and
(B) a landowner to build housing for one or more tenants who are fully engaged in operating the farm if the landowner meets the following requirements:
(i) the use must not exceed 1 tenant house for each 100 acres, unless the Foundation allows an exception in a case of compelling need;
(ii) the land where a tenant house is located must not be subdivided or conveyed to any person;
(iii) the tenant house must not be conveyed separately from the original parcel; and
(iv) any other requirement in Subtitle 5 of Title 2 of the Agriculture Article.
(2) Purchase of an agricultural easement by the Foundation does not grant the public any right of access or right to use the land included under the easement.
(3) Any land under a State agricultural easement must not be condemned for public use unless no other reasonable alternative is available. (2008 L.M.C., ch. 37, § 1.)
A landowner who rejects an offer by the Foundation to buy a State agricultural easement on the same land for 2 consecutive years, for a reason other than that sufficient State or County funds are not available to buy the easement, must not reapply to sell an agricultural easement on the same land for the next 2 consecutive years. (2008 L.M.C., ch. 37, § 1.)
(a) The Foundation and the County must approve the termination of any agricultural easement bought in full or in part with State funds. Any termination must comply with Subtitle 5 of Title 2 of the Agriculture Article.
(b) The Foundation must hold a State agricultural easement in perpetuity if the State Board of Public Works approved the purchase of the easement on or after October 1, 2004. (2008 L.M.C., ch. 37, § 1.)
(a) A landowner seeking to place land under an agricultural easement must submit an easement sales application to the Office. The application must include a completed property description and specify the landowner’s asking price.
(b) The County may buy an agricultural easement under this Article:
(1) on land located in the Rural, Rural Density Transfer, or Rural Cluster zones; or
(2) on land located in another zone if the land meets all requirements of subsection (e).
(c) The County must not buy an easement under this Article if further development is already precluded on that land.
(d) The County may buy an agricultural easement under this Article if the land:
(1) is the least 50 contiguous acres;
(2) meets United States Department of Agriculture’s soil classification standards I, II, or III, or woodland classifications 1 and 2 on at least 50% of the acreage, as outlined in the Soil Survey for Montgomery County; and
(3) is located outside water and sewer categories 1, 2, and 3, as defined in the County Ten-Year Comprehensive Water Supply and Sewerage Systems Plan.
(e) If any land does not meet all requirements of subsection (d), the County must not buy a County agricultural easement on that land unless:
(A) the Office finds that placing an agricultural easement on that land is in the public interest; and
(B) the Office concludes, after consulting local agricultural support agencies, that the land has significant agricultural resources. (2008 L.M.C., ch. 37, § 1; 2015 L.M.C., ch. 36, § 1.)
(a) Permitted Uses. Except as prohibited by Chapter 59 or the terms of an agricultural easement, the following activities are permitted on land under a County agricultural easement:
(1) any agricultural use of land;
(2) operation of any machinery used in farm production or the primary processing of agricultural products, regardless of the time of operation;
(3) any normal agricultural operation, performed in accordance with good husbandry practices, that does not cause bodily injury or directly endanger human health; and
(4) operation of a farm market.
(b) Relation to special exceptions and conditional uses. Subsection (a) does not alter either the requirements in Chapter 59 for a special exception or conditional use applicable to the zone where a County easement is located or the process to obtain a special exception or conditional use. However, an agricultural easement may expressly limit the right of the landowner or any successor in interest to apply for a special exception or conditional use that is inconsistent with the purposes of this Article.
(c) Uses not permitted; release.
(1) Land under a County agricultural easement must not be subdivided or used for any residential, commercial, or industrial purpose. However, the landowner may obtain a release from an agricultural easement for:
(A) 1 acre, or the minimum lot size required by Chapter 59 or applicable well and septic regulations, whichever is greater, to build a house for use by the landowner; and
(B) up to 3 1-acre lots, or the minimum lot size required by Chapter 59 or applicable well and septic regulations, whichever is greater, to build houses to be occupied by adult children of the landowner at a maximum density determined by the size of the land under easement and the following calculations;
(i) 1 lot for the first 25 acres;
(ii) 2 lots for land under easement greater than 50 acres bu tless than 120 acres; and
(iii) 3 lots for land under easement that is greater than 120 acres.
(2) (A) Any release issued under this Section must include a requirement that the landowner or the child, whichever is appropriate, must not transfer the lot released from an agricultural easement for 5 years after the release is recorded in the County land records unless:
(i) The APAB approves the transfer; or
(ii) the lot is subject to a bona fide foreclosure of a mortgage or deed of trust or to a deed in lieu of foreclosure.
(B) Noncompliance with subparagraph 2(A) is a violation of this Chapter and the agricultural easement, and may result in legal action to prevent the transfer or to obtain the proceeds of any sale collected by the landowner or the child if a unapproved transfer occurs.
(3) If land proposed for an agricultural easement does not contain a habitable dwelling house, the landowner may, as part of the application, request the right, which would run with the land, to build one single family dwelling house if:
(A) no viable residential structure exists on the land when the easement is bought;
(B) the easement requires that the residential structure must never be subdivided from the easement property; and
(C) the easement requires that the right to build a single family dwelling precludes the release of any lot from the easement for the landowner’s children.
(4) A landowner may build housing for one or more tenants fully engaged in operating the farm. However:
(A) not more than one tenant house may be built for each 100 acres of land under easement;
(B) the land on which a tenant house is located must not be subdivided or conveyed to any third party;
(C) the tenant house must not be conveyed separately from the original parcel of land under the easement; and
(D) the square footage of the tenant house must not exceed the square footage of the principal dwelling on the land under the easement.
(d) Reimbursement. A landowner who obtains a release of a lot from an agricultural easement must first reimburse the Fund by an amount equal to the pro-rata purchase price the County paid for the easement. The County Attorney must, after the Fund is reimbursed, execute and record a partial release in the County land records. (2008 L.M.C., ch. 37, § 1; 2016 L.M.C., ch. 8, § 1.)
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