As used
in this chapter:
(A)
“Agriculture” has the same meaning as in section 1.61 of the Revised Code.
(B)
“Best management practices” means the engagement of agricultural production and
management, including practices such as manure handling, tillage, forestry
management, and similar practices, in a manner that is generally accepted in
the agriculture industry and that is approved by any of the following:
(1) The
United States department of agriculture;
(2) The
natural resources conservation service in the United States department of
agriculture;
(3) The
department of natural resources;
(4) A
soil and water conservation district established under Chapter 1515. of the
Revised Code;
(5) With
respect to organic or sustainable production methods, a conservation
professional whom the director of agriculture approves as having expertise in
those methods.
(C)
“Contiguous farmland” means any of the following:
(1)
Geographically contiguous property used for agriculture;
(2)
Noncontiguous property used for agriculture that is owned by one person and
connected by a right-of-way that the person controls and to which the public
does not have access;
(3) Two
or more pieces of property used for agriculture that would be geographically
contiguous but for the fact that the property is separated by a public or
private right-of-way or rights-of-way or by rivers, streams, creeks, or other
bodies of water.
Effective
Date: 05-18-2005
(A) Land
that is located in the unincorporated area of a township or county may be
enrolled in an agricultural security area through the submittal of an
application to the board of township trustees of each township and to the board
of county commissioners of each county in which the land is located requesting
the establishment of such an area. Land that is located in a municipal
corporation and land that is located in territory that is proposed to be
annexed to a municipal corporation by a pending proceeding before the board of
county commissioners or in any court of competent jurisdiction shall not be
included in an agricultural security area.
If all
of the land sought to be enrolled in the agricultural security area is owned by
the same person, that person shall submit the application to the required
boards. If the land sought to be enrolled consists of parcels owned by
different persons who have aggregated their parcels, either each owner may
submit a separate application to the required boards or all of the owners
collectively may submit one application for the entire agricultural security
area to the required boards.
An
application shall be on the form that the director of agriculture prescribes.
The director shall provide copies of the application form to county auditors.
An
application shall be signed by each applicant who is submitting it and shall
contain all of the following:
(1) The
first, middle, and last name of the applicant or applicants;
(2)
Information concerning any property interest in the land sought to be enrolled
in an agricultural security area that is held by a person other than the
applicant or applicants, including, without limitation, mineral rights or
easements in the land that are held by a person other than the applicant or
applicants and any other interest in the land that may not be conducive to
agriculture and that is held by another person;
(3) A
statement by each applicant who is submitting the application that the
applicant will not initiate, approve, or finance any new development for
nonagricultural purposes on the land that is proposed to be enrolled in an
agricultural security area during the ten-year period of the enrollment, except
as is otherwise authorized under division (A) of section 931.04 of the Revised
Code. For purposes of division (A)(3) of this section, “new development”
includes, without limitation, an applicant’s transfer to another person of the
ownership of a property interest in the land that occurs during the period
beginning on the date that the application is submitted and ending on the date
that the ten-year period of enrollment is scheduled to expire, except as
otherwise provided in division (D) of this section. “New development” does not
include taking any actions that are authorized under property rights in the
land, such as mineral rights or easements, that were transferred to a person
other than an applicant prior to the date that the application is submitted. In
addition, “new development” does not include the construction, modification, or
operation of wind energy-producing facilities, including windmills and wind
turbines, the grant of easements for or the construction, modification, or
operation of transmission or distribution lines for electricity, gas, or oil or
of any gathering or production lines for oil or gas, or the grant of new
mineral leases, or the drilling or operation of any oil or gas well on or in
connection with the land, provided that such activities do not cause the land
to become ineligible for valuation and assessment for real property tax
purposes in accordance with its current agricultural use value under sections 5713.30 to 5713.38 of the
Revised Code.
(4) A
listing of all administrative enforcement orders issued to each applicant who
is submitting the application, all civil actions in which an applicant was
determined by the trier of fact to be liable in damages or was the subject of
injunctive relief or another type of civil relief, and all criminal actions in
which an applicant pleaded guilty or was convicted, during the ten years
immediately preceding the date of submission of the application, in connection
with any violation of environmental laws or similar laws of another state. As
used in division (A)(4) of this section, “environmental laws” has the same
meaning as in section 3745.70 of the Revised Code.
(5) A
statement from the natural resources conservation service in the United States
department of agriculture, a soil and water conservation district with
jurisdiction over the land to which the application applies, or any other
conservation professional approved by the director that, at the time of the
application, each applicant who is submitting the application is complying with
best management practices;
(6) A
map that complies with all of the following:
(a) Is
prepared by a regional or county planning commission established under section 713.21 of the Revised
Code; a professional engineer, including a county engineer, or surveyor
registered under Chapter 4733. of the Revised Code; a soil and water conservation
district created pursuant to section 1515.03 of the Revised Code; or the natural resources
conservation service;
(b)
Identifies the area of land to which the application applies and includes the
corresponding parcel number that the county auditor has assigned under section 319.28 of the Revised
Code to each parcel of land that comprises that area;
(c)
Shows the boundaries of the land to be enrolled in an agricultural security
area;
(d)
Shows the names and locations of all streams, creeks, or other bodies of water,
roads, rights-of-way, and railroads together with any existing residential,
recreational, commercial, or industrial facilities that are situated on the
land to be included in the area and within five hundred feet of the perimeter
of the area. The map also shall show the location of all utility, water, and
sewer lines that are situated on the land to be included in the area and within
five hundred feet of the perimeter of the area unless the board of county
commissioners of each county and the board of township trustees of each
township in which the land is located exempts the application from that
requirement because the information generally is not readily available.
(e)
Indicates the date on which the map was prepared;
(f)
Identifies the person or persons who prepared the map.
(7) A
list of the other boards of township trustees and boards of county commissioners
to whom an application has been submitted.
An
application submitted under this section is a public record.
A board
of township trustees and a board of county commissioners each may establish a
reasonable fee or schedule of fees to be paid at the time that an application
is submitted for the purpose of paying the costs of public notice and certified
mail that are incurred in any proceedings conducted under this chapter. The
clerk of the board shall maintain an accurate and detailed accounting of all
money that is received and expended in the processing of an application and
shall return to the applicant any unused portion of the fee or fees after the
conclusion of the proceedings.
(B) An
area shall be established as an agricultural security area when all of the
following criteria are satisfied:
(1) The
area consists of not less than five hundred acres of contiguous farmland that
is located in the unincorporated area of a township or county. In order to
satisfy this requirement, two or more owners of contiguous farmland may
aggregate their land.
(2) The
land forming the area is in an agricultural district or districts established
under Chapter 929. of the Revised Code.
(3) The
land forming the area is valued and assessed for real property tax purposes in
accordance with its current agricultural use value under sections 5713.30 to 5713.38 of the
Revised Code. Land forming the area that is a portion of a farm on which is
located a dwelling house, a yard, or outbuildings such as a barn or garage
shall be deemed to satisfy the criteria established in divisions (B)(1) and (3)
of this section.
(4) Each
application submitted by the owner or owners of the land forming the area is
approved under section 931.03
of the Revised Code by the boards of township trustees of all of the townships
in which the land is located.
(5) Each
application submitted by the owner or owners of the land forming the area is
approved under section 931.03
of the Revised Code by the boards of county commissioners of all of the
counties in which the land is located.
(C)
Additional contiguous farmland may be enrolled in an existing agricultural
security area during a partially elapsed ten-year enrollment period either by a
landowner who already has land enrolled in the agricultural security area or by
a landowner who does not already have land enrolled in the agricultural
security area. To enroll additional contiguous land in an existing agricultural
security area under this division, a landowner shall obtain permission from
each owner of land that already is enrolled in the agricultural security area,
submit an application in accordance with this section, and obtain approval of
the application from all appropriate boards of township trustees and boards of
county commissioners in accordance with section 931.03 of the Revised
Code. Enrollment of the additional land in the existing agricultural security
area shall continue until the expiration of the current, partially elapsed
ten-year enrollment period and may be renewed in accordance with section 931.06 of the Revised
Code.
(D) If
an owner of land that is enrolled in an agricultural security area transfers
the land to another person during a partially elapsed ten-year enrollment
period, the land may remain in the agricultural security area until the
expiration of that period, provided that both of the following apply:
(1) The
transferee certifies and submits a statement, together with the transferee’s
first, middle, and last name and a description of the transferred land, to the
appropriate boards of township trustees and boards of county commissioners
specifying that, in accordance with division (A)(3) of this section, the
transferee will not initiate, approve, or finance any new development for
nonagricultural purposes on the transferred land during the remainder of the
partially elapsed ten-year enrollment period. Upon receipt of the statement,
the boards of township trustees and boards of county commissioners shall adopt
a resolution acknowledging the receipt.
(2) The
transferred land continues to satisfy the criteria established in divisions
(B)(2) and (3) of this section during the remainder of the partially elapsed
ten-year enrollment period.
Divisions
(A), (B), and (C) of section 931.03 of the Revised Code do not apply to the continued
inclusion of such transferred land in an agricultural security area. Upon the
expiration of the partially elapsed ten-year enrollment period, enrollment in
the agricultural security area may be renewed in accordance with section 931.06 of the Revised
Code.
Effective
Date: 05-18-2005; 2008 HB289 07-18-2008
(A)(1)
Not later than sixty days after receipt of an application submitted under
section 931.02 of
the Revised Code, the board of township trustees of each township in which the
land that is proposed for enrollment in an agricultural security area is
located and the board of county commissioners of each county in which the land
is located shall hear the application at the next regularly scheduled meeting
of the board. A board, not later than thirty days prior to the time of the meeting,
shall cause a notice containing the time and place of the meeting to be
published in a newspaper of general circulation in the township or county, as
applicable, and to be sent to the superintendent of each school district within
the proposed agricultural security area, the county engineer of each county in
which the proposed area would be located, the legislative authority of each
municipal corporation that is located within one-half mile of the boundaries of
the proposed area if the municipal corporation has requested notice of such a
meeting, and the director of transportation.
As part
of the hearing on an application, a board shall review any information that it
possesses concerning improvements that are planned to be made during the
subsequent ten years to existing or proposed roads that are located or are to
be located within the area that is proposed for enrollment in an agricultural
security area. As used in division (A)(1) of this section, “proposed road”
means any future roadway project that is on a new alignment or relocation of an
existing alignment and for which state or federal funding has been allocated
for, but not limited to, a planning level roadway improvement study, an
interchange justification or bypass study, environmental review, design,
right-of-way acquisition, or construction, and “improvement” includes any
action taken with respect to an existing or proposed road that would cause the
road to cover a portion of land that it does not cover or is not proposed to
cover at the time of the hearing. Any portion of land that would be covered by
a planned improvement shall not be eligible for enrollment in an agricultural
security area.
As part
of the hearing on an application, a board also may consider any comprehensive
plan that is in place for the county or township, as applicable, and may choose
to approve or reject the application on the basis of the proposed agricultural
security area’s compliance with the comprehensive plan.
(2) The
board of township trustees of each township and the board of county
commissioners of each county that is required to hear an application under
division (A)(1) of this section may conduct a joint meeting in lieu of meeting
separately not later than forty-five days after receipt of an application under
section 931.02 of
the Revised Code. A single public notice concerning the meeting shall be
provided in the manner prescribed in division (A)(1) of this section in each
township and county participating in the meeting. The cost of the public notice
shall be shared equally by all townships and counties participating in the
joint meeting.
For
purposes of such a joint meeting, the clerk of the board of county
commissioners of the county that includes the most land that is located or is
to be located within the agricultural security area shall serve as the clerk on
behalf of all boards of county commissioners and boards of township trustees
participating in the joint meeting. The clerk’s duties shall include providing
the public notice that is required under this section together with maintaining
minutes and a record of proceedings for the joint meeting.
(3) Not
later than forty-five days after a board of township trustees hears the
application and not later than sixty days after a board of county commissioners
hears the application, each respective board shall adopt a resolution either
approving or rejecting the application. However, if a board determines that the
information in the application is incorrect or the application is incomplete,
the board shall return the application to the applicant, by certified mail,
with an enumeration of the items that are incorrect or incomplete.
Upon
receipt of the returned application, the applicant may amend the application.
Not later than fifteen days after receipt of the returned application, the
applicant may submit an amended application to each board of township trustees
and each board of county commissioners to whom the original application was
submitted.
Not later
than thirty days after receipt of an amended application, a board shall adopt a
resolution either approving or rejecting the amended application. Not later
than five days after adoption of the resolution, the board shall notify the
applicant, by certified mail, of the board’s decision to approve or reject the
application.
(4) Any
person may submit comments to any board of county commissioners or board of
township trustees to which an application or amended application has been
submitted under this chapter at any time prior to and at any public meeting at
which the application or amended application is heard.
(B)(1)
An agricultural security area is established, and the land that is proposed for
inclusion in the area is enrolled in the area, upon the adoption of a
resolution by each of the affected boards of township trustees and boards of
county commissioners approving the same version of the application or
applications requesting the establishment of the area.
(2) Not
later than thirty days after a board adopts a resolution approving the
establishment of an agricultural security area, the board shall send a copy of
the resolution to the director of agriculture, the director of transportation,
the superintendent of each school district within the area, the county
engineer, and the county auditor.
(C) A
resolution approving the establishment of an agricultural security area shall
include all of the following:
(1) A
statement that the board of township trustees or board of county commissioners,
as applicable, commits not to initiate, approve, or finance any development for
residential, commercial, or industrial purposes, including construction of new
roads and water and sewer lines, within the area for a period of ten years. For
purposes of division (C)(1) of this section, “development” does not include any
of the following:
(a) The
improvement of existing roads, provided that the county engineer of each county
in which the portion of the area affected by the improvement is located determines
that the improvement is necessary for traffic safety, and provided that the
improvement is as consistent as possible with the agricultural use of land in
the area;
(b) The
construction, modification, or operation of transmission or distribution lines
for electricity, gas, or oil or of any gathering or production lines for oil or
gas, provided that the construction, modification, or operation of the lines
does not cause the land to become ineligible for valuation and assessment for
real property tax purposes in accordance with its current agricultural use
value under sections 5713.30
to 5713.38 of the
Revised Code;
(c) The
construction, modification, or operation of water lines or sewer lines,
provided that an official or employee of the environmental protection agency
orders the construction, modification, or operation for the purpose of enabling
water and sewer service areas that are outside of the agricultural security
area to be connected to each other, and provided that the lines do not provide
service connections to land within the agricultural security area.
(2) A
requirement that the owner or owners of the land in the area use best
management practices;
(3) A
statement that describes the agreement that was reached with other boards, if
applicable, under section 5709.28 of the Revised Code concerning the percentage of the
taxable value of qualifying agricultural real property in the agricultural
security area that is to be exempted from taxation under that section and the
number of years that the tax exemption established under that section will
apply to that property.
(D) An
agricultural security area may continue in existence for ten years unless
either of the following occurs:
(1) The
sole owner of land enrolled in the area withdraws under section 931.07 of the Revised
Code.
(2)
Unless division (C) of section 931.07 of the Revised Code applies, land in the area fails to
satisfy any of the criteria specified in divisions (B)(1) to (3) of section 931.02 of the Revised
Code.
(E) The
approval or disapproval of an application under this section is not a final
order, adjudication, or decision under section 2506.01 of the
Revised Code and is not appealable under Chapter 2506. of the Revised Code.
Effective
Date: 05-18-2005; 2008 HB289 07-18-2008
(A) An
owner of land that is enrolled in an agricultural security area may do either
or both of the following:
(1)
Request approval from each board of township trustees and each board of county
commissioners that adopted a resolution approving the establishment of the
agricultural security area to operate any business that does not impair the
owner’s ability to engage in agriculture and does not cause the land to become
ineligible for valuation and assessment for real property tax purposes in
accordance with its current agricultural use value under sections 5713.30 to 5713.38 of the
Revised Code;
(2)
Develop, authorize the development of, or, for the purpose of developing,
transfer ownership of a portion of the owner’s land within the agricultural
security area for constructing or otherwise establishing a single-family
residence for an individual who is related by consanguinity or by affinity to
the owner. Not more than one such residence shall be constructed per each forty
acres of the owner’s land within the agricultural security area.
(B)(1)
To obtain approval to operate a business under division (A)(1) of this section,
a person shall send a written request, by certified mail, to each appropriate
board of township trustees and each appropriate board of county commissioners.
The request shall contain all of the following:
(a) A
description of the proposed business;
(b) A
description of the intended location of the business;
(c) A
description of the intended size of the business;
(d) If
applicable, a detailed description of any construction, renovation, or
excavation that will occur for purposes of the proposed business.
(2) Not
later than thirty days after receipt of a request under division (B)(1) of this
section, a board shall adopt a resolution either approving or rejecting the
request. If the board approves the request, the board shall send a copy of the
resolution approving the request to each of the following not later than thirty
days after adopting the resolution:
(a) The
director of agriculture;
(b) Each
appropriate county auditor;
(c) The
person requesting the business.
(3) If
all of the appropriate boards of township trustees and boards of county
commissioners adopt a resolution approving the request to operate a business,
the person making the request may establish the requested business.
(C) The
amount of land that is used for either purpose authorized under division (A) of
this section shall be included when determining if the acreage requirement
established under division (B) of section 931.02 of the Revised
Code is satisfied.
Effective
Date: 05-18-2005; 2008 SB289 07-18-2008
Upon
request, the director of agriculture or the director’s authorized
representative shall provide guidance and technical assistance to owners of
land who are seeking enrollment in agricultural security areas and to boards of
township trustees and boards of county commissioners who receive applications
requesting the establishment of agricultural security areas.
Effective
Date: 05-18-2005
Not later
than one hundred eighty days prior to the expiration of an agricultural
security area, an owner of land that is enrolled in the area may renew the
enrollment. The procedures established under this chapter for the initial
enrollment of land in an agricultural security area apply to the renewal of
enrollment. In addition, all of the requirements governing initial enrollment
apply to enrollment renewal.
Effective
Date: 05-18-2005
(A)(1)
An owner of land that is enrolled in an agricultural security area may withdraw
from the area by sending written notice of withdrawal, by certified mail, to
all of the following:
(a) The
county auditor of each county in which the land is located;
(b) The
board of township trustees of each township in which the land is located;
(c) The
board of county commissioners of each county in which the land is located.
(2) The
owner of land that is enrolled in an agricultural security area shall send
written notice, by certified mail, to the parties listed in division (A)(1) of
this section when all or a portion of the land becomes ineligible for
enrollment in the area due to the occurrence of any of the following events:
(a) The
owner of the land withdraws all or a portion of the land from an agricultural
district under Chapter 929. of the Revised Code.
(b) The
land is removed from the agricultural district in which it is situated because
of the termination of the district, and a renewal application has not been
filed within the time prescribed in division (C) of section 929.02 of the Revised
Code or has not been approved under that division.
(c) All
or a portion of the land is converted from being land devoted exclusively to
agricultural use within the meaning of section 5713.30 of the
Revised Code unless the conversion is incident to the appropriation of land by
the state, one of its political subdivisions, or an agency as defined in
section 163.01 of
the Revised Code.
(3) The
county auditor of a county in which land enrolled in an agricultural security
area is located who discovers that any of the events described in division
(A)(2) of this section has occurred and that the owner of the land has not
complied with the notice requirements established in that division shall provide
the required notice to the parties listed in division (A)(1) of this section,
except that for the purposes of division (A)(1)(a) of this section, the auditor
need notify only the county auditors of the other affected counties.
(B) Upon
receipt of a notice under division (A) of this section, a board of township
trustees or a board of county commissioners immediately shall send a certified
copy of the notice to the director of agriculture. The copy shall indicate the
name of the township or county, as applicable.
(C)(1)
If an owner of land that is enrolled in an agricultural security area withdraws
from the area under this section or if at any time an owner’s land fails to
satisfy either of the criteria established under division (B)(2) or (3) of
section 931.02 of
the Revised Code, any other owners of land that is enrolled in the area who do
not withdraw and whose land satisfies those criteria may continue to have their
land enrolled in the agricultural security area until the enrollment expires
under any of the following circumstances:
(a)
Within the first five years of a ten-year enrollment period, enrollment may
continue if the number of acres remaining in the agricultural security area
equals five hundred or more.
(b)
Within the first five years of a ten-year enrollment period, if the number of
acres remaining in the area has diminished to fewer than five hundred,
enrollment may continue only if additional contiguous farmland is enrolled in the
area to the extent that the number of acres in the area increases once more to
equal five hundred or more. Such an increase in acreage may occur through the
addition of contiguous farmland to the area either by a landowner who already
has land enrolled in the area or by another landowner. In either case, in order
to enroll the land in the area, the landowner shall submit, not later than
sixty days following the date on which the acreage in the area diminished to
fewer than five hundred, an application in accordance with section 931.02 of the Revised
Code. The landowner shall obtain approval of the application from all
appropriate boards of township trustees and boards of county commissioners in
accordance with section 931.03 of the Revised Code. Enrollment of the additional land
in the agricultural security area shall continue until the expiration of the
existing, partially elapsed ten-year enrollment period and may be renewed in
accordance with section 931.06 of the Revised Code.
(c)
Within the last five years of a ten-year enrollment period, enrollment may
continue regardless of the number of acres remaining in the agricultural
security area.
(2) If
the state or a municipal corporation appropriates part of the land that is
enrolled in an agricultural security area and, as a result of the
appropriation, the area fails to satisfy the criterion established under
division (B)(1) of section 931.02 of the Revised Code, the owners of land enrolled in the
area whose land satisfies the criteria established under divisions (B)(2) and
(3) of that section may continue to have their land enrolled in the
agricultural security area until the enrollment expires.
(D) If
at any time land that is enrolled in an agricultural security area ceases to be
enrolled in the agricultural security area, the statement made by the owner of
that land under division (A)(3) of section 931.02 of the Revised
Code and the statement made by a board of township trustees or board of county
commissioners under division (C)(1) of section 931.03 of the Revised
Code are no longer applicable.
Effective
Date: 05-18-2005
No owner
of land that is enrolled in an agricultural security area shall fail to comply
with the statement that the owner submitted under division (A)(3) of section 931.02 of the Revised
Code that the owner will not initiate, approve, or finance any new development
on the land for nonagricultural purposes.
Effective
Date: 05-18-2005
The
director of agriculture shall prepare and submit to the governor, the president
of the senate, and the speaker of the house of representatives an annual report
concerning agricultural security areas in the state. The report shall include
information concerning the number of acres that are enrolled in agricultural
security areas and their location and any tax exemptions granted under section 5709.28 of the
Revised Code.
Effective
Date: 05-18-2005
Whoever
violates division (A)(2) of section 931.07 of the Revised Code or section 931.08 of the Revised
Code shall be fined five hundred dollars for violation of each section. The
clerk of the court that receives payment of the fine money shall forward half
of the money to the board of township trustees of the township and half of the
money to the board of county commissioners of the county in which the
applicable agricultural security area is located.
In the
case of an agricultural security area that is located in more than one
township, the clerk shall divide half of the fine money in equal shares among
the townships and shall forward the appropriate portion to each board of
township trustees. In the case of an agricultural security area that is located
in more than one county, the clerk shall divide half of the fine money in equal
shares among the counties and shall forward the appropriate portion to each
board of county commissioners.
A board
of township trustees or a board of county commissioners may, but is not required
to, use the fine money received under this section for farmland preservation
purposes.
Effective
Date: 05-18-2005; 2008 SB289 07-18-2008