
DATE: Tuesday, May 6, 1997                  TAG: 9705060253

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MATTHEW DOLAN, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:  162 lines

CHESAPEAKE FARMLAND VS. DEVELOPMENT PLOTTING A CITY'S FUTURE

Major byways entering this city on the banks of the Elizabeth River pierce a dense South Norfolk and continue south through strip malls and subdivisions.

But within a mile or two after leaving Great Bridge, the landscape opens wide to thousands of acres of wheat, corn and soybeans, of woods and wetlands.

Here is what's left of Chesapeake's rural past. And today it's the focal point of new efforts to preserve farmland and open space before the bustle of Virginia's biggest boom town overtakes them.

``One of the elements of our review of the city's comprehensive plan this year is rural area preservation,'' said the director of the city's Planning Department, Brent R. Neilson.

The planners' report, presented to City Council members at their retreat last month, outlines 11 options for agricultural preservation. Those possible solutions - from the promotion of the agricultural industry to creating clear boundaries for urban-style growth - were designed to help save the city's declining agricultural industry, now consisting of just 106 full-time and part-time farmers who have more than 100 acres in tillage.

Since 1970, 11,477 acres of once agricultural land have been converted to residential and commercial development in the city, officials said. Arnold Dawley, director of the state Farm Service Agency in Chesapeake, said there are about 17,000 acres of wheat, 13,000 acres of corn and 29,000 acres of soybeans left in the city.

``From now on it will be a net loss,'' Dawley predicted. Development, he said, already has begun to make inroads into the southern reaches of the city.

Once ranked first among the city's industries, agriculture has fallen to eighth place. Annual agricultural sales are $20 million or more, but the number of active farms and the jobs they sustain continue to decline.

The cause?

A changing economy that converts rural land to suburban development, members of farm families leaving to pursue other careers, land sales to developers to pay for retirement, and the extension of sewer and water lines have all contributed to the changing face of farming in the city.

Then there are the inevitable clashes in lifestyle.

Farmers complain about increased traffic, vandalism and the area's loss of rural character. New residents counter with their irritation at the noise and odors emanating from farming and livestock-raising activities and about having to drive behind slow-moving tractors and combines.

To ease these conflicts, the City Council has elected to pursue two strategies: to purchase development rights for farmland and to cluster residential development in rural areas in exchange for the preservation of large tracts of open space.

Their goals are to protect farmland, to reduce the burden on taxpayers who have to pay for increased services when residential development expands, and to save natural resources and preserve the rural make-up of the city's southern reaches.

A program to buy development rights would allow farmers to nominate their property for assessment on these factors:

Quality of the farmland.

The likelihood of conversion to nonfarm use.

Environmental quality.

Historic and scenic value.

After the property is deemed eligible for the program, the City Council would have the final say and give the city manager the authority to negotiate with the land owner, according to a planning staff report.

When the development rights are purchased, the land could not be developed for nonfarm uses for a predetermined time, usually at least 20 years, Neilson said.

At the end of the agreed time, the landowner would have the option to buy back the right to develop the land.

A similar program in Virginia Beach, the Agricultural Reserve Program, has attracted substantial interest from farmland owners, who submitted 5,591 acres for review. So far, the preservation program, enacted a year and a half ago to save 20,000 acres from development, has preserved 753 acres for the next 20 years.

Still, that program required a revenue commitment from taxpayers, said Virginia Beach Agricultural Director Louis E. Cullipher.

``If you don't have a dedicated fund, you build up people's expectations and then you risk not being able to purchase the rights to the land down the road,'' Cullipher said.

Rodney Foster, a Chesapeake Planning Commission member and president of the Chesapeake Farm Bureau, echoed the need for a well-funded program.

``The purchase of the land rights will only be for fair market value, but sometimes farmers don't trust government programs,'' said Foster, whose third-generation farming family works 2,700 acres of land near Indian Creek.

Still, Foster, who endorses the program and will participate in Chesapeake's if it's enacted, said there are practical reasons why farmers near him would be likely to buy into the program. Sewer connections aren't expected in his section of the city for 20 years, thus putting off any real chance for development, he said.

But after Chesapeake fills the city's $19 million budget shortfall this year, some on the City Council and Planning Commission believe that the funding for purchasing development rights will not be sought until after the council elections next year.

Those political realities have not slowed other citizens' groups from sounding a similar call for preservation.

The Mayor's Long Range Study Task Force, commissioned to assess Chesapeake's future, suggested developing ``standards to preserve farmlands and open space by allowing higher density in certain targeted growth areas.''

The other option, rural clustering, would not require the same commitment from taxpayers' wallets.

Rural clustering configures all residential development in one part of a specified tract. The remaining areas - likely to be from 50 to 70 percent of the total land, according to Neilson - would be dedicated for permanent open space.

``Right now, there are five lots per parcel for a subdivision in the southern areas of the city,'' Neilson said. ``That density could increase to, say, 30 lots per parcel for example, in exchange for the preservation of a large track of land.''

If the decision is made to include the two programs in the city's comprehensive plan, they would not be Chesapeake's first stab at land preservation.

The city granted about $3 million last year in tax breaks on 32,590 acres as part of a longstanding, state-designed program to reduce speculation on raw land.

Environmental groups like The Nature Conservancy have purchased large tracts of land in the city to protect them from development.

In addition, federal efforts, such as the Wetland Reserve Program, offer money to landowners who restore wetlands that have been drained to provide more land for crops. Last year, a 247-acre farm off Pocaty Road near the Navy's Fentress airfield became the first in South Hampton Roads to enroll in the program. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by STEVE EARLEY/The Virginian-Pilot

Rodney Foster, a Planning Commission member and president of the

city Farm Bureau, favors the plan to buy farmland development

rights.

Side Bar

City Council has elected to pursue two strategies: Purchase

development rights for farmland Cluster residential development in

rural areas in exchange for large tracts of open space

Color Map/Vp

Preserving Farmland and open Space

Graphic

STRATEGIES BEING CONSIDERED

PURCHASE OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS