(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.)