Tension between development, green space preservation walks a fine line - St. Louis Business Journal:

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The state Department of Agriculture claimse Ohio ranks second among the 50 statew forlost farmland, but only 22nd for populationm growth. But some programs are fightinvthe sprawl. Thousands of acres are protected from and incentives direct development inward to urban For thepast decade, the Agriculturde Department has run a trio of easement programw that keep land under privatd ownership, but prohibit nonagricultural development. The Cleajn Ohio Agricultural Easement Purchase Program pays for up to 75 percenyt of the appraised value ofa farm’ development rights, with a cap of $2,009 per acre and $500,00 per farm.
For a time, therr also was a similar Tobacco Agricultural Easement Purchase And the Ohio Agricultural Easemenrt Donation Program preserves land through donate d easementsfrom landowners. From 2001 throughy 2008, the three programs saved 35,1590 acres, including applications that are still The purchaseprogram can’t plant a stop sign right at the edge of however. “It can’t be right theres by the bulldozer. It would have to be said Mark Forni, executive director of the state’ds Office of Farmland Preservation.
Distance from waterf and sewer lines also is a Few farms in easement programs havechanged hands, but a sale in Clarok County a few months ago seemed to validat the programs’ appraisals. “I think the farm sold for abouyt $2,700 an acre with the easemeng on it. We had paid about $1,300 an acre for the Forni said. With farms in that area sellinyg forabout $4,000 an acre, the deal was on par with the marketf rates, he said. Some townshipe have tried to preserve agricultural landthrough zoning. Uniob County’s Darby Township tried prohibiting the sale of parcelsz smaller than 20 acres in districts zoned agricultura and 5 acres in district s zonedfarm residential.
Voters nixed the zoning referendum, but Darbg came up with a versiohn that made agricultural zoning Since that law took effect in July landowners haveput 7,400 acres into it. Now the Logan-Union- is lookintg to use the idea, said Director Jennuy Snapp. Redevelopment vs. development There also are incentives for developers to build inurbanm areas, a side benefit of which is slowing sprawl “I would say you might call it an unitended consequence,” said Jonathan Barnes, principal of Ltd. in Columbus, which has done historic preservatiomn work. “One of he benefits of preservingv older builidings is that greenfields in othee areasare preserved.
” A lot depends on whethe a project might have been built on open land if an infilll site wasn’t available, he said. “Most of our privat clients that have engaged these incentive have said they reallh could not have done the projects without he said. “It is a lot easierd to start witha flat, open site in the suburbs with easy aces s and lots of parking, and make somethinhg work out there as opposed to a tight urbam site without a lot of space.” The Clean Ohio Assistance Fund provides grants to clean up brownfields, among othet uses. As of April, 121 projectsz had been awarded $45.
4 Last year the program was modified so communitiesz no longer have to get a user to commit to a sitebeforde it’s cleaned up. “Columbus in particularf has been very successful forobtaining grants,” said William director of the Urban Development Divisionb in the state Department of He pointed to the formedr on East Broad Street, where grant moneyg was used for asbestos removal as the buildingg was rehabbed into apartments. The Historivc Preservation Tax Credit offers upto $5 million per project. In the program is being used to rehabilitate the Old Ohio Deaf Schookl on Town Street into downtownrental housing.