In its efforts to preserve rural areas, the County’s Board of Supervisors hasn’t managed to impose restrictions on development rights, known as “phasing.” Yet it has managed to preserve 3,776 acres in the last four years through the Acquisition of Conservation Easements (ACE) program.
Conservation easements overlay certain restrictions on land with the idea of preserving it the way it is. The ACE program, funded mostly by County property taxes, buys conservation easements from those with agricultural or forested land who don’t want to develop it (or sell it to those who would). With an annual budget of roughly $1.4 million, the program aims to preserve 1,000 acres per year.
Already in place are federal and State tax incentives for residents who want to put their land under conservation easements. But because many of these tax incentives have historically worked best for the wealthy, the ACE program is aimed at the “landowner of modest means” who is cash poor but land rich, according to ACE administrator Ches Goodall.
“Frankly, there are properties out there that have been protected through the ACE program that simply would not have been protected if the ACE program didn’t exist,” says Rex Linville, land conservation officer for Piedmont Environmental Council (PEC). “So it’s really filling a need.”
Applications came due October 31, and merely eight were submitted. Goodall says that number is typical and that three-fourths are usually accepted. Over four years, the ACE program has eliminated 258 development rights (roughly the average number of building permits issued in the rural areas each year).
Linville’s only criticism is the length of time the program takes. He estimates that between submitting an application and receiving money for the easement, a landowner would have to wait 12 to 18 months.
Neil Williamson of Free Enterprise Forum thinks the public should weigh in on whether the ACE program deserves more or less funding. “It’s amazing to me that a program that spends $1 million a year has never been up for an independent public hearing,” says Williamson. He also thinks the ACE program’s scoring system, which rewards landowners with lower income levels, should be rejiggered so that “the best lands available” are prioritized instead.
Already, 62,000 of 465,040 county acres are protected under conservation easements, according to PEC.
