Hard to believe its autumn already, time is flying. Next thing we know is that it will be Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Over the last two years, Long Island Farm Bureau has been working closely with Suffolk County, Peconic Land Trust and other interested parties to make careful improvements to Chapter 8 Laws of Suffolk County - the Farmland Preservation Program. The program has worked very well over the life of the program in preserving 15,000 acres of farmland between Suffolk County, the Towns and New York State.
In recent years different problems have arisen that require modifications to the law. Some of the proposed changes to the law include modification to the make-up of the Farmland Select Committee. Thirty years ago the main responsibility of the committee was to determine which parcels of farmland meet the criteria (ie: is it prime land, is it worthy of preservation, etc.). Thirty years later the committee’s role has evolved to include oversight of the easements and more of a “stewardship” role to address siting issues related to buildings, storm water drainage, soil movement and vista considerations.
The law also needs to be tightened up to allow the county to enforce the easements from bad actors. There have been some landowners who have violated the spirit of the law by actions utilizing their land in unscrupulous manners ie: removing soil that destroys the integrity of the land so that it will not be farmable in the future. The public support for the program is jeopardized any and every time the farmland is used inappropriately. Long Island Farm Bureau concurs that we cannot lose public support or we will not realize our preservation goals of 30,000 acres of preserved farmland.
Not all of the proposed changes are without concern to the farm community. The make-up of the committee will somewhat diminish the dominance of farm community by adding a number of Suffolk County representatives and reducing the number of farmers (at-large appointments.) Since Suffolk County administers the program, they would like a more active role in oversight and stewardship matters. It will be up to the farm community to ensure the program meets the needs of the agricultural industry and balances those needs with the public good.
We expect the proposed changes to go to public hearings at the Suffolk County Legislature in the next several months. Long Island Farm Bureau commends Suffolk County for its pro-active and balanced approach on the future of protecting our remaining farmlands.