Redistricting Information Session Proposed changes to the Municipal Development Plan and Land Use Bylaw February 8, 2017

Why is the County doing this? The goal is to match the label we put on the farmland with the quality of the farmland “Agricultural Use” = prime farmland “Rural Use” = non-prime farmland

Soil productivity: 0% This does not mean you have 0% soil productivity It means that 0% of your parcel has higher than 40% soil productivity

What does it change? Prime farmland gets more protection Non-prime farmland gets less protection

How is farmland protected? Protection means we try to keep the best farmland in production by: Allowing fewer uses/buildings Making it harder to subdivide

How will this affect my taxes? It won’t, unless you change the use Both districts are considered farmland

Where did the data come from? Soil testing was done by an assessor (tested in 1988 and updated on an as-needed basis)

What if the data is inaccurate? Let us know. The assessor will consider re-testing the soil.

Why change? In the past the bylaws were overly restrictive of non-prime farmland. Now the higher level of restriction will apply only to prime farmland.

Opt-out If you decide that the proposed districting is not right for your land, you can opt-out Send the County a note saying: Your name Legal land description(s) “I request to be exempt from the proposed redistricting of my land.”

Questions