Agenda - Planning Commission - 04/04/2013

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Lancaster County contains prime agricultural soils, this cannot be the sole determining factor for an Agricultural Area designation. Other factors considered during the analysis include the size of farms in the study area and whether or not these farms are included in a block of currently farmed parcels, per- manently preserved for agricultural use through conservation easements, or in- cluded in the locally designated Agricultural Security Area. Lancaster County's Agricultural Preserve Board and the private, nonprofit Lancaster Farmland Trust have jointly perma- nently preserved over 9o,00o acres of farm- land, often in large contiguous blocks. These preserved farms have been mapped and form much of the foundation of Agricultural Areas at the municipal level. Other resources that should be consid- ered are the presence of agricultural support businesses that can be identified through economic census data and local land -use inventories. The goal is to identify an area where the long -term sustainability of agricul- ture as a thriving economic enterprise can be maintained. Natural Areas Delineation of Natural Areas at the municipal level in Lancaster County has been greatly assisted by the creation of the county's first green infrastructure plan, Greenscapes. This element of the county's comprehensive plan seeks to establish a network of natural areas, conservation lands, and working landscapes. The Natural Areas component of the DRA, like the Agricultural Areas, looks to identify and protect large blocks of resource lands while accommodating appropriate forms of rural development at appropriate scales. A vital part of Greenscapes is the Natural Heritage Inventory of Lancaster County completed at the same time. The inventory is based primarily on a "hubs and corridors strategy" identifying the high- est priority natural habitats in the county and the greenways that connect them. Greenscapes includes a goal to preserve the ® Many rural centers in Lancaster County also include agricultural - support businesses, such as this blacksmith in unincorporated Churchtown. ® Many rural centers in Lancaster County include historic resources such as the Bangor Episcopal Church in unincorporated Churchtown, listed on National Register of Historic Places in 1978. most exceptional natural resources in the county, including large forest blocks, high - quality streams and riparian buffers, and unique geologic features, as well as sup- porting natural features such as wetlands, floodplains, and groundwater and wellhead protection zones. Rural Centers Rural Centers are an important part of the heritage and identity of Lancaster County. These are primarily unincorporated small towns, centered around mills, railroad stops, and post offices, which were some of the earliest areas of permanent European devel- opment in the county. Many of these com- munities still exist today. The county's comprehensive plan iden- tifies four types of Rural Centers. The first are villages, communities with well - defined edges typically consisting of 5o or more dwellings. Villages are usually designated as Village Growth Areas (VGAs) by the local municipality and the county and may be ZONINGPRACTICE 3.13 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION I page 4