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Discussion about the preservation of agricultural land and the agricultural II district zoning brought out local farmers, county officials, developers, realtors and the press to the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission special meeting Wednesday.
The plan commission held the meeting to hear public comments on how to deal with agricultural land and sell-offs.
County plan director Dan Richard told the crowd of 25 that there is no dilemma facing agricultural land in the county now, but it is important to plan for the future.
Zoning regulations were first introduced in the county in March 1975, Richard said.
"Being the heavily agricultural community that we are, the goal is to preserve and protect (farmland). It's what makes Kosciusko County tick," Richard said.
When zoning was first introduced to the county, Richard said, one small sell-off was allowed. Then a property owner was allowed to sell off as many five-acre plots as they wanted as long as each sell-off had access to a road right of way.
In 1987, Richard said, the plan commission realized it needed to tighten control over sell-offs. Too often someone owning five acres would use only one acre and weeds would grow on the other three or four acres.
Under zoning regulations now, a property owner may have three sell-offs and then as many 20-acre tracts as they want. Once the owner has used the maximum number of sell-offs, he or she must rezone the land to agricultural II if they want to build another building.
Ag II districts now create other problems in unused land and encroachment onto agricultural land by subdivisions.
After Richard opened the topic for discussion, Max Beer, Milford, said he owns two five-acre tracts and would like to give some land to his son to build a home, but under the current guidelines, he cannot. He said the county plan commission or board of zoning appeals should allow property owners to give land to family for residences.
Board member Hal Strong said he is in favor of the Ag II districts but doesn't like exceptions that allow sell-offs to family members because people take advantage to circumvent the process.
One county resident said he had a problem with Richard's comment about no problem with the preservation of agricultural land.
"I take exception with Dan when he said it isn't a crisis. It is a crisis," he said.
He said his son wants to expand his farm but can't because land in the county isn't affordable to anyone but developers.
Marta Hopkins, a local realtor, said the demand for small acreage is greater than for lakefront property because people want to live in the country.
"The less small acreage available, the higher the prices will go up," she said.
Board member Kevin McSherry asked her if she thought it was OK to waste farmland because there's a demand for it.
"I'm not saying waste farmland, but neither should farmers be prevented from selling off an acre," Hopkins said.
Board member and Syracuse Town Manager Brian Redshaw said crop production is so high and technology so great, that there's less need for so much farmland.
Board member Kelly Easterday said those comments only reflect today's world but tomorrow may be a different story.
Kip Tom, an area farmer, said Kosciusko County has a diverse economy in agriculture and manufacturing.
"We need to stop looking at today's economy and look toward the future," Tom said.
He said while crop production is adequate today, it might not in the 21st century when the population reaches all-time highs. He challenged the board to really look at the problem of agriculture preservation and to do something about it.
Another county resident said he thought one problem was when farmers take 160 acres of farmland, broken up into four different legal descriptions, and sell them separately.
County commissioner Brad Jackson said one idea to solve the Ag II zoning is for the petitioner to be required to state how many residences would be allowed on the property. For instance, if 19.5 acres were rezoned Ag II, the property owner would put a restriction on the deed saying no more than one or two residences are allowed on the total acreage.
Another county resident said instead of 20-acre sell-offs, the plan commission should not allow sell-offs of less than 40 acres.
Jon Roberts, a farmer, said a problem for him is driving big farm equipment on the roads.
A local developer said that with so many lakes in the area, farmers need to expect traffic problems and growth.
The group also discussed the responsibility of developers to provide sewer.
County surveyor Richard Kemper said, "If you want sewer as a deterrent for development, that certainly will be. But, just because you can put infrastructure out there, that doesn't mean it's a suitable place for development."
Commissioner Eddie Creighton said many problems discussed but few solutions were at the meeting. He said it is difficult to deal with growth.
"I've never gone to a zoning meeting and had anyone say, 'I'd like a new neighbor.' They say they moved there to get away from that," he said.
Richard said didn't hear anything new that the plan commission didn't discuss.
Ag I districts protect agricultural land from undesirable urban growth and establish a quarter-mile protected zone for livestock operations to protect them from incompatible urban development.
Ag II zoning allows the development of a tract of marginal agricultural land into a low density,, rural atmosphere residential subdivision, allowing a mixture of residential and agricultural uses. Tracts in Ag II are developed with the understanding that they are in a rural area and are exposed to agricultural practices.
