The Calvert County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and the Agricultural Preservation Advisory Board announce the opening of the application period for the county’s Purchase and Retirement Fund program. Through the program, Transferable Development Rights are purchased, retired and permanently removed from the market to protect farmland from development.
Applications are accepted from the owners of Agricultural Preservation Districts and ranked by an established formula. The purchase price approved by the BOCC is $3,750 per Transferable Development Right.
The application deadline is Friday, Dec. 5, 2014, at 4:30 p.m. Applications are available on the county website under Forms in the Community Planning and Building section. Completed applications should be sent to Community Planning and Building, Attention-Veronica Cristo, 150 Main St., Prince Frederick, MD 20639 or emailed to cristova@co.cal.md.us.
The Fiscal Year 2015 county budget includes $1.25 million for the Purchase and Retirement Fund. More than $500,000 of the total comes from the Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission, with $200,000 from agricultural transfer taxes dedicated to land preservation. Remaining funds come from the prior year land preservation fund balance; none are taken from the county’s General Fund.
The Purchase and Retirement Fund program is part of Calvert County’s longstanding effort to preserve agricultural land. The county has preserved more than 28,000 acres of productive farms and forests over the past 30 years.
To learn more about the Purchase and Retirement Fund program, contact Rural Planner Veronica Cristo of the Department of Community Planning and Building at 410-535-1600, ext. 2489, or email cristova@co.cal.md.us. For information on Calvert County Government, visit www.co.cal.md.us or like us on Facebook.
