FROM STAFF REPORTS

The Iredell County Board of Commissioners will wait to vote on a proposal to restrict the density of future residential development in rural areas until it receives a recommendation from the Farmland Preservation Advisory Board.

Commissioners were prepared in August to vote on a proposal to impose minimum lot-size requirements for residential developments with more than five lots in a large portion of the county north of the South Yadkin River. During a public hearing on the proposal at the August meeting, however, several prominent farmers and landowners criticized the proposal, arguing that it would devalue their land and hinder their ability to sell.

The planning staff incorporated the lot-size restrictions into the 2045 Horizon Plan, which is the county’s official land-use planning guide, following a months-long process involving public input. Staff asked commissioners to incorporate those requirements — including 5-acre minimum lot sizes in most of rural northern Iredell — into the county ordinance.

During a lengthy discussion last week, commissioners alternately lamented the fallout from taking no action to slow the explosive residential growth occurring in the Mooresville, Statesville and Troutman areas and the criticism they would receive from farmers if they hindered their ability to cash out.

“We cannot sustain the growth we are experiencing in parts of this county,” Vice Chairman Bert Connolly said.

The board asked Farmland Preservation Advisory Board Chairman Jim Dobson, who attended the meeting, to take the lot-size restriction proposal to his board, discuss it, and then return with a recommendation.

Dobson accepted “the challenge,” but said he might not have a recommendation until January. He said he did not envy the position the commissioners find themselves in.

“You’re more than between a rock and hard place,” Dobson said. “You’re between two grinding stones being driven by a motor that is revving up.”

While the majority of commissioners appeared to support some type of lot-size restrictions, Commissioner Scottie Brown said he would not support any proposal that limited the ability of farmers to sell their land.

“More government is less freedom,” he said. “I’m not willing to tell people what they can do with their land and what they can’t do with their land.”

SLOWING THE LOSS OF FARMLAND 

The board also heard a presentation from Travis Morehead, executive director of Three Rivers Land Trust, a nonprofit devoted to conserving land and protecting water in a 15-county area that includes Iredell County.

Morehead asked the board to consider setting aside some of the revenue it receives when farmland is sold off to developers for residential projects to use for farmland preservation.

From 2001 to 2016, approximately 732,000 acres of farmland were lost to development in North Carolina, Morehead told commissioners, and another 1 million acres will likely be permanently lost by 2040.

Iredell County ranks 38^th among all counties in the United States for likely farmland loss, he added.

Preserving farmland makes good business sense for commissioners because farms don’t need schools or create increased demands for EMS, public safety and health and human services, Morehead said.

Meanwhile, agriculture remains the No. 1 industry in North Carolina with a $110 billion economic impact and in Iredell County.

In July, the board asked staff to investigate the prospect of using some rollback tax revenues for farmland preservation efforts.

The State of North Carolina allows property that is being used for agricultural purposes to be taxed at a lower rate (present use) by counties than regular property is taxed. However, if property used for agriculture is sold and that property is converted to a non-agriculture use by the new owner, the difference in what was paid in present use taxes and the normal tax rate is levied for the previous three years. That revenue is called rollback money.

Over the past 10 years, Iredell County has collected an average of $394,576 in rollback money annually, according to County Manager Beth Mull. That money has traditionally gone into the county’s fund balance.

Morehead, whose nonprofit has helped conserve more than 50,000 acres, said some of that rollback money could be used to purchase a conservation easement for property owners who want to protect their land from development. Participating landowners are paid a percentage of the property’s fair market value in exchange for permanently relinquishing development rights.

Three Rivers Land Trust is currently working with five Iredell County landowners who have a total of 818 acres who are willing to conserve their land if it makes financial sense, Morehead said.

“If there was money available for that, we would certainly put it to work,” he told commissioners.

“Keeping land as undeveloped land and farmland is the cheapest way for you to get out,” Morehead added.

Commissioners appeared agreeable to setting aside a portion of rollback revenues for farmland preservation, but they did not commit to a percentage or dollar amount. Some of that revenue stream must be used to offset the demand for county services caused by residential development, they said.

The board will continue its discussions on using rollback money for farmland preservation during its September meeting.

OTHER BUSINESS

In other business, commissioners approved:

♦ A request from the Solid Waste Department for the approval of a 3-year purchase agreement for mobile radio equipment.
♦ A request from ICATS for approval to call for a Public Hearing on September 17, 2024, at 6 p.m. regarding Transportation Grants for Fiscal Year 2025.
♦ A request from the Library to apply for a North Carolina Humanities Small Project Grant in the amount of $2,000.
♦ A request from the Library to proclaim September 2024 as Library Card Sign-up Month.
♦ A request from the Library to provide an update on the Iredell County America 250 NC Planning Committee.
♦ A request to proclaimed September as SMART Start Month.