Food for thought
Upholding the Primacy of Farming in the Ag Reserve
By Diane Cameron
Climate disruption is upon us . Heat emergencies and flash floods are hitting Montgomery County and the greater DC region more often . Over the past year , the COVID-19 pandemic , layered on top of the climate crisis , has further disrupted food supply chains . With 100,000 residents estimated to be food insecure , County officials worked with farmers in the Agricultural Reserve and partners to establish the Farm to Food Bank program . In 2020 , eight Montgomery County farms supplied over 50,000 pounds of produce to area food banks . In 2021 the program is expanding , with 22 farms receiving grants enabling them to ramp up table crop production .
Farmers , in a unified effort with conservationists , are also responding to the climate crisis by teaming up to support solar energy development appropriate to the Ag Reserve — and its heightened role in local food production . The Ag Stakeholders ’ “ Conditional Use ” proposal for solar in the Ag Reserve , along with protection of “ Class II ” productive farmland soils , allows large-scale solar facilities in a way that seeks harmony with the purpose of the Ag Reserve : farms producing food and fiber , and forests and open space that supply us with clean water and clean air .
Heated debate was sparked last year when Councilmember Riemer proposed Zoning Text Amendment ( ZTA ) 20-01 to allow large-scale solar arrays as coprimary , permitted land uses in the Reserve . Cast as the centerpiece for achieving carbon emission reductions the County committed to in its 2017 Climate Emergency Resolution , the proposal was supported by solar and climate groups .
Farmers , alongside conservationists with Montgomery Countryside Alliance ( MCA ), Sugarloaf Citizens Association ( SCA ) and Clean Water Action ( CWA ), saw this as an unprecedented change to the Ag Reserve ’ s zoning , that if not properly restricted , could hinder the ability of existing and new farmers to make a living here producing food and fiber . Roughly 60 percent of farmers in the Reserve lease the land they farm , and are vulnerable to rent increases and loss of long-term leases .
Securing farmers ’ long-term land access is arguably the core raison d ’ être for the Ag Reserve . The forty-year Ag Reserve program provides stability and affordability of land rents and prices , through zoning , easements , transfers of development rights , and tax rates favorable to agriculture . It ’ s this achievement of secure land access for farmers on the edge of a metropolis , that has made the Ag Reserve the model for farmland protection nationwide . The question faced by farmers and conservationists is this : Can we find a way to allow some large-scale solar facilities into the Ag Reserve , that doesn ’ t harm farmers ’ land access and the future of farming in the Reserve ?
The answer is a tentative “ yes ” via the compromise proposal that emerged as the Ag Stakeholders participated over the winter break in the council ’ s Farm Solar Work Group . The Ag Stakeholders — farmers Randy Stabler and Doug Lechlider , and conservationists Caroline Taylor of MCA and Lauren Greenberger of SCA — found a path forward enabling solar to locate in the Reserve : the Conditional Use process that preserves the primacy of farming in the Reserve and protection of Class II soils . Conditional Use is akin to a Special Exception process , where a hearing examiner provides caseby-case review and approval . The County ’ s Office of Agriculture will also provide review to include forest protection .
The Conditional Use proposal is a deep compromise on the part of the Ag Stakeholders , who note that even with Class II soil restricted , other soil classes remain eligible for solar facilities up to two megawatts , with available land on more than 400 properties comprising 4000-plus acres . Concerns remain over solar ’ s long-term impact on farmers ’ land access in the Re-
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