Farmland Preservation places an agricultural conservation easement on your property (minimum of ten farmable acres) which is a permanent legal restriction that limits future uses to agricultural purposes. There are many benefits to preserving your land! The landowner is financially compensated for preserving land and it permanently protects a family's farmland from being lost to future non-agricultural development. Families who join the Farmland Preservation program still own and operate their land, can pass the property onto family members when the time comes, or can sell the property, while preventing future development.
Open Space Preservation is for properties that do not qualify under the Farmland Preservation program. Wooded areas, wetlands, pasture land, and meadows might fall into this group. This allows residents to protect property from future development, while retaining ownership of the land, and allows for a variety of rural activities. Open Space Preservation is not the purchase of land by the state, county or township. It is only the purchase of the "development rights" which keeps the land from being developed. The property can be sold at any time after preservation as preserved open space, and it cannot be developed. Certain improvements can be allowed within narrow guidelines established when the property is preserved. Once again, it is important to note the purchase is of the conservation easements. The property owner retains full ownership of the land. The property owner can also choose to exclude certain areas of their property from the easement.
The first step towards preserving your land is to complete and return an Agricultural Security Area (ASA) application. After receiving your application, you are entered into a 180-day waiting period before the land can be officially added into the townships ASA property list. At that point, you can apply for Farmland & Open Space Preservation if you would like to preserve your land. You can access all of these applications here.
ASA’s are intended to promote more permanent and viable farming operations in a community. It provides protection from nuisance ordinances, limits the ability to ever have your land condemned for new schools, roads, parks, or other governmental project, and is the first step in preserving your land, if you choose to do so. Having land enrolled in an ASA does not put any restrictions on the property and does not affect the landowner's ability sell the property or to use his or her property for non-agricultural development purposes.