Caroline County planning commission recommends 16 farms for permanent easements

The Caroline County Planning Commission voted to recommend 16 farmland easement applications for submission to the Caroline County Commissioners.

Cathy, a planning staff member, presented the county’s ranked applications and said 108 applications were requested, 49 were reviewed by the ag advisory board, and the top 16 applications “have a 138 acres as the average farm acres.” She also told commissioners the advisory board was surprised that asking prices were higher for several applications this year.

Commission member (speaker 5) moved to recommend the 16 prioritized applications for submission to the county commissioners; Chairman Jeff Jackson seconded the motion and it was approved by voice vote.

Cathy said the top applications were scored under the state easement criteria and that the county and the state program’s submission limits require the county to pare down its list each round. Commissioners noted the process can be time-consuming: staff reviewed and rated 49 returned applications before prioritizing the top candidates.

If approved by the Caroline County Commissioners, the selected parcels would be pursued for permanent preservation under the applicable state easement process. Commissioners and staff said they hope to preserve roughly 2,200 acres across the recommended easements, subject to state approval and final easement negotiations.

The commission’s recommendation concludes the planning commission’s formal role for this round; the county commissioners will next review the submission and decide whether to forward applications to the state program.