The department may certify a county’s farmland preservation plan under s. 91.16, Stats., if that plan complies with the requirements in s. 91.10 (1) and (2), Stats., and all of the following:

1. (1) Rationale.

   1. (a) The farmland preservation plan shall describe the rationale used to determine which areas the county plans to preserve for agricultural use and agriculture-related use. The rationale shall be based on objective criteria related to the characteristics of the land parcels themselves, including consideration of all of the following criteria:

      1. 1. Whether the soils are suitable for agricultural production.
      2. 2. Whether the land has historically been used for agricultural use or agriculture-related use.
      3. 3. Whether the land is in close proximity to agricultural infrastructure.
      4. 4. Whether the land is in undeveloped natural resource or open space areas that connect other farmland parcels to create a large, uninterrupted block of preserved area.

      5. 5. Whether the land may be under some development pressure but the land is not located in an area the county plans for development in the next 15 years.

         Note: The criteria listed above are all land-based considerations that may or may not be relevant in the county. Other factors may also be considered such as availability of supporting infrastructure or presence of protected land.

   2. (b) The rationale shall exclude from a farmland preservation area any parcels planned, within 15 years, for nonagricultural development or other incompatible uses in the town or county comprehensive plans.
   3. (c) The rationale may not be based primarily on landowner preferences.
   4. (d) The rationale shall be applied consistently across the county to the extent applicable and practicable.

   5. (e) The farmland preservation plan map shall accurately reflect the rationale utilized by the county.

      Note: Utilizing objective criteria means that the criteria must be applied impartially and not favor some landowners over other landowners. The criteria should be based on characteristics associated with the land itself or existing pressures that may affect the future use of the land instead of focusing solely on the preferences of individual landowners.

2. (2) Relationship to the county comprehensive plan.

   1. (a) The farmland preservation plan shall be consistent with any county comprehensive plan.

      Note: To be “consistent with” does not mean that the farmland preservation plan and the comprehensive plan must be identical; however, for the department to find that the plans are consistent there should not be any significant difference between elements of the plans. For example, not every area that is shown as an agricultural area in the comprehensive plan future land use map must be included as a farmland preservation area in the farmland preservation plan map; however, lands planned for residential or non-agricultural commercial use in the comprehensive plan should not be planned for farmland preservation in the farmland preservation plan within the next 15 years.

   2. (b) The farmland preservation plan shall be included in any county comprehensive plan.

      Note: Under s. 91.10 (2), Stats., the county is required to include the farmland preservation plan in any county comprehensive plan it adopts. Under s. 91.18, Stats., the farmland preservation plan is not qualified for certification by the department if pars. (a) and (b) are not met.

3. (3) Plan ineligible for certification. The department may not certify a farmland preservation plan that does not meet the requirements of ch. 91, Stats., and this subchapter.

History

History: CR 13-003: cr. Register December 2013 No. 696, eff. 1-1-14.