Established in 1987, this program gives the County the ability to purchase agricultural land preservation easements. Lands must be zoned Rural, Rural Cluster, or Agricultural Reserve, or must be determined by the County’s Agricultural Preservation Advisory Board (APAB) to possess significant agricultural value.

This County-run program is not dependent upon State approval, so agricultural land preservation easement applications can typically be processed in a shorter timeframe (~6-12 months). This program uses a formula-based system to determine the agricultural easement value based on farm size, soil quality, road frontage, and farm location, rather than appraisals.

Eligibility:

• Farm must be located in the Agricultural Reserve (AR), Rural Cluster Zone (RC), Rural Zone (RZ), or other zones that possess significant agricultural value.
• Minimum property size: 50 acres, or 10 acres or more of cropland adjacent to other protected land.
• One Transferable Development Right (TDR) for every 25 acres of land must be retained with the property prior to easement application to be eligible for the maximum easement value.
• At least 50 percent of the land must meet USDA Soil Classification Standards I-III or Woodland Classifications 1 and 2.
• The land must lie outside water and sewer categories 1, 2, and 3.

Method Used to Determine Easement Values:

• The AVF is used to determine easement values. It is based on several farm quality characteristics that have a direct effect on the future potential of the land to support agriculture and on the threat to the property from non-agricultural uses. These characteristics are size, soil quality, land tenure, road frontage, and proximity to an agricultural zone edge.

Governing Laws and Regulations:

• Montgomery County Code Sections 2B-1 to 2B-18
• Bill No. 39-07
• County Executive Regulations No. 3-09AM

The most significant initiative for the preservation of agriculture here began in 1980 when almost a third of the County, or more than 93,000 acres of land, was designated as the County’s Agricultural Reserve. This agricultural zone set a 25-acre density for subdivision of land, but allows landowners to sell development rights to areas designated for growth elsewhere in the County based on the previous zoning designation of 1 unit per 5 acres. In this way, rural landowners have been able to recapture some of the lost equity resulting from the 1980 down-zoning while planning development in areas where the existing infrastructure can accommodate increased density.

When landowners create TDRs from their land to sell to designated receiving areas, a TDR easement is placed on the property that permanently restricts development to a maximum of 1 unit per 25 acres, regardless of any future zoning changes in the Agricultural Reserve.

To date, over 52,000 acres of farmland have been preserved through the TDR program, equating to $117 million in private funds generated through TDR purchases. While this demonstrates the success of the program, further protection measures, in the form of public easement programs, have been necessary to preserve farmland below the Agricultural Reserve’s allowed density of 1 house per 25 acres.

A BLT Easement permanently retires an approved on-site waste disposal system associated with the lot to be terminated under the easement. Since the landowner has already proven that the lot is capable of supporting a residence, the price paid for eliminating the potential lot, through a BLT easement, is higher than that of a TDR.

In addition to County-purchased BLT easements, in which the development rights associated with the BLTs will be retired, BLTs may also be sold directly to developers for use in designated receiving areas to increase density. These receiving areas include the Life Science (LS) (Chapter 59-C-5.473), Transit Mixed-Use (TMX) (Chapter 59-C-14.27), and Commercial/Residential (CR) zones (Chapter 59-C-15.87).

Eligibility:

• The land must be located in the Agricultural Reserve (AR) Zone.
• The property must be at least 50 acres in size. Smaller property may be considered if it is contiguous to other lands protected from development by State/County agricultural and conservation easements.
• At least 50 percent of the land must meet USDA Soil Classification Standards I-III or Woodland Classifications 1 and 2.
• The land must lie outside water and sewer categories 1, 2, and 3.
• The Land must not be encumbered by Federal/State/County agricultural or conservation easements, except land protected by Transferable Development Rights (TDR) Easements may still be eligible.
• The land must be able to achieve a percolation rate sufficient to support an individual on-site waste disposal system as evidenced by septic system site plan approved by the Department of Permitting Services.
• Any TDRs that are retained with a parcel of land above the threshold of 1 TDR per 25 acres must be created/severed from the land prior to or simultaneously with the settlement of the BLT easement

Method Used to Determine Easement Values:
On July 1 of each year, the County Executive determines the Base Value and the Maximum Easement Value for the BLT Ranking Formula for that fiscal year. In setting the Base Value, the County Executive considers such factors as recent prices paid for agricultural easements, including BLT Easements, within Montgomery County, recent County TDR prices, and recent fair market value prices paid for fee simple acquisition of agricultural land, including prices for parcels with and without agricultural easements.

Governing Laws and Regulations:

• Montgomery County Zoning Ordinance Chapter 59-C
• Montgomery County Code Sections 2B-1 to 2B-18
• Bill No. 39-07
• County Executive Regulations No. 3-09AM

Additional information and details on the applicability concerning private BLT transactions within these established BLT receiving zones can be found by accessing the Montgomery County Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 59-C