§ 48-7. Certification and qualification of farmland.

Requirements. To secure County certification as qualifying farmland (Certified Qualifying Farm), a farm must be real property that meets the following requirements:

(1)

Be located in the unincorporated area of Orange County;

(2)

Be engaged in agriculture as that word is defined in NC. Gen Stat. § 106-581.1;

(3)

Be certified by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture as being a farm on which at least two-thirds of the land is composed of soils that: are best suited for providing food, seed, fiber, forage, timber, forestry products, horticultural crops and oil seed crops;

(4)

Be managed in accordance with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and N.C. Soil and Water Conservation Service defined erosion-control practices and have a current conservation farm plan and/or forestry management plan associated with the current usages and owner; and

(5)

Be the subject of a conservation agreement, as defined in N.C. Gen. Stat. § 121-35, between the County and the owner of such land that prohibits non-farm use or development of such land for a period of at least ten years, except for the creation of not more than three lots that meet applicable County zoning and subdivision regulations.

(Ord. of 03-24-1992, Art. VII, eff. 04-01-1992; Amend. of 04-17-2000, eff. 04-17-2000; Amend. of 06-23-2005, eff. 06-23-2005; Amend. of 04-20-2010, eff. 04-20-2010; Amend. of 6-2-2015, eff. 6-2-2015)