Ag district review could add 7,600 acres, remove nearly 6,000

Photo by Tom Rivers: A corn field is pictured on Telegraph Road in Ridgeway in October 2022.

ALBION – Orleans County is doing a once-every-8-year review of the county-wide agricultural district and about 7,600 additional acres will be added with nearly 6,000 to be taken out.

That is how it stands now, but the numbers could change before an Aug. 16 deadline, said Corey Winters, planner with the Orleans County Department of Planning.

The agricultural district covers about 118,000 acres or approximately 48% of the land mass of the county. The county every year gives property owners a chance to be included in the district, but parcels can only be removed every eight years. This year is that chance to pull out property.

Undeveloped land that is in the district is not allowed to hook into waterlines for non-agricultural use because of the potential adverse effects on agriculture, Winters said. Existing homes, residences, and farms within an agricultural district are not prohibited from connecting to new water lines.

Winters said some of the land being removed from the district is owned by older property owners who want to give their relatives the option to connect to waterlines in the near future.

The County Agricultural Farmland Protection Board and Department of Planning are leading the review. Winters and Barry Flansburg, chairman of the Farmland Protection Board, went over the data during a public hearing on Tuesday with the County Legislature.

The review right now would add about 1,600 acres to the district.

“We’re thrilled we’re not losing agricultural acreage,” Flansburg said.

The county tried three times to get a response from 139 parcel owners, representing 3,150.9 acres. That land will be removed from the ag district unless there is an affirmative response by an Aug. 16 deadline.

Parcels that did not respond: 139 parcels – 3,150.9 acres

• Town of Albion: 6 parcels – 166.6 acres
• Town of Barre: 19 parcels – 579.8 acres
• Town of Carlton: 18 parcels – 451.6 acres
• Town of Clarendon: 11 parcels – 632.6 acres
• Town of Gaines: 5 parcels – 13.8 acres
• Town of Kendall: 17 parcels – 276.9 acres
• Town of Murray: 8 parcels – 98.9 acres
• Town of Ridgeway: 32 parcels – 522.9 acres
• Town of Shelby: 11 parcels – 201.7 acres
• Town of Yates: 12 parcels – 205.9 acres

Parcels to be excluded from district: 88 parcels – 2,804.8 acres

• Town of Albion: 6 parcels – 166.6 acres
• Town of Barre: 8 parcels – 321.4 acres
• Town of Carlton: 6 parcels – 149.5 acres
• Town of Clarendon: 34 parcels – 975.2 acres
• Town of Gaines: 2 parcels – 90.4 acres
• Town of Kendall: 8 parcels – 257.4 acres
• Town of Murray: 3 parcels – 93.1 acres
• Town of Ridgeway: 13 parcels – 597.2 acres
• Town of Shelby: 10 parcels – 259.4 acres
• Town of Yates: 2 parcels – 1.6 acres
• Village of Lyndonville: 1 parcel – 57.8 acres

Parcels to be added: 166 parcels – 7,656.9 acres

• Town of Albion: 15 parcels – 809.4 acres
• Town of Barre: 18 parcels – 776.8 acres
• Town of Carlton: 27 parcels – 1,951.5 acres
• Town of Clarendon: 8 parcels – 353.9 acres
• Town of Gaines: 20 parcels – 830.5 acres
• Town of Kendall: 12 parcels – 214.1 acres
• Town of Murray: 21 parcels – 1,253.6 acres
• Town of Ridgeway: 8 parcels – 77.4 acres
• Town of Shelby: 14 parcels – 709.6 acres
• Town of Yates: 13 parcels – 616.6 acres
• Village of Lyndonville: 6 parcels – 63.5 acres