Recent comments in /f/Pennsylvania

IamSauerKraut t1_j7u7g7p wrote

Reply to comment by geriatric_tatertot in How do you feel about all the warehouses and other land development? by conifer0

>The MPC requires municipalities to allow for all types of zoning.

The MPC does not require that productive farmland be rezoned to commercial/light industrial. That particular zoning can be placed elsewhere.

True story: I know a guy who owned a small farm on which he had placed a conservation easement. His municipality, without cause, decided to rezone his area from ag to some form of commercial/light industry. He asked them not rezone his land as that type of zoning was inappropriate for his preserved farm and because the municipality already had an area with that zoning designation. The municipality refused his request. At the next meeting, he brought a couple of lawyers. The zoning was not changed.

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IamSauerKraut t1_j7u6vdi wrote

Reply to comment by bhans773 in How do you feel about all the warehouses and other land development? by conifer0

>Some level of government purchases an agricultural easement.

Now you have it right. It is not the land which is purchased but the easement on the land. Ownership does not change.

One thing which could be done better? Enforcement of the terms of the easement. Right across the street from Cumberland Valley High School in central PA, a conservation easement was placed on a historic horse farm. Years later, the property was sold. And warehouses are now under construction on that very property.

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geriatric_tatertot t1_j7u4338 wrote

Reply to comment by sg92i in How do you feel about all the warehouses and other land development? by conifer0

Zoning changes dont mean a property tax hike. Any farm over 10 acres is going to be in clean and green so its tax burden is minimal. The issue is their children aren’t interested in farming so there is no one to hand the land down to. That means when they are ready to retire the land will go up for sale to the highest bidder. In many municipalities (mine included) the local zoning/planning commission -muni not county, zoned this land industrial as way to comply with the MPC and also block industrial development within the township. Its going to be a farm forever right? The proliferation of warehouses, which meet the industrial zoning definition, has meant that land can be bought and developed for that purpose. It can also be used for industrial farming, but those companies prefer to work with farmers to minimize liability not own the land themselves. Right now warehouses have the money to buy the land. 10 years from now it could be some other industry competing for it, for better or worse.

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