It is very obvious that the pace of growth in the valleys of the western United States has led to redevelopment of just above all that once was fertile farmland. What has happened? Those involved in rural land use are unable to compete in the economic ring with the technologically savy urban developers. This is a high stakes competition between agriculture, which is viewed as a temporary use for land that will be discovered by developers, determined to put the once-rural spaces to their highest and best use.
Below is an article from New West.net, written by Susan Duncan, discussing the issues between rural agriculture and urban development. The questions always rising to the surface are, "Who should decide the best use for our lands, and what are those 'best' uses?" What do you think?
"...In the beginning, the landscape was "wild". European settlers perceived that Native American culture was not using this land to its greatest potential. The pioneers "tamed" it as farmland. Now, a new wave of settlers - called developers and amenity buyers - believe that farmers are not using land efficiently. They envision farmland as residential, commercial, and high-end recreational property. And so it goes. Beware! When "new" people see property as "under-performing real estate", your land is subject to a hostile takeover (as with the Native Americans) or a buyout. (Name your price.) That's how cutover Plum Creek timberlands became Yellowstone Club and farmland became Costco and Wal-mart.
Surrounded by open space, rural residents have trouble imagining a need to save "open space." Urban residents have trouble imagining that "all that farmland out there" could one day be under pavement. As one lady told me, "I thought farms would always be there! It never occurred to me that they could be all gone!"
If farmland is not a designated land use in the planning process, it has no chance of survival. The chamber of commerce attitude is that farming is on its way out - a nostalgic, remnant of our pioneer heritage. Service industries are in: Extractive industries are out. The chamber may acknowledge that agriculture is an existing industry with an Ag Committee and a yearly banquet. But, the chamber is unlikely to spend money to retain it. As one Chamber Director told me, "We have limited funds and those funds have to go to attract industries that provide high paying jobs. Agriculture produces no high paying jobs."
Chambers of commerce count storefronts. Except for Wheat Montana, few agricultural businesses have a storefront on Main Street. A sporting goods store (on average) generates $153 per square foot of retail space. Contrast that with a wheat farmer's numbers. A local farmer told me that wheat farmers get 30 bushels per acre (dry land) and up to 100 bushels per acre (irrigated). At a rough figure of $8 per bushel (up from $3-4 a bushel before ethanol and grain shortages), an acre produces $240 to $800 of gross income. Now divide that by 43,560 square feet in an acre. In the most optimistic of scenarios, that's about two cents per square foot. Another local farmer told me that the average return on investment for local farmers is 1-2%.
Go to any chamber of commerce or planning office and look at the maps. Agricultural land is represented as "white space" - vacant, empty, and unused. The rest of the map shows grids of streets and houses, malls and parks (in town). In maps of planning or zoning districts, dots represent buildings. The dots thin out toward the edges of the planning unit boundary. What is in the "white space"? Nothing? Then NOTHING is lost if farmland is converted to a car dealership, a mall, or a trophy golf course. The transition represents no conscious weighing of options or consequences. Because there's nothing there, nothing was lost by this choice. White space makes agricultural land uses invisible in the planning process. Every time I see one of those maps, I am tempted to put stickers depicting cows, wheat, and potatoes all over the white space.
Zoning segregates land uses to prevent conflict. Unzoned agricultural land is open to any and all land uses. My neighbor uses his five acres to store construction equipment. I hear clanging and banging and loud voices at all hours. Periodically, diesel fumes waft through my bedroom window. A mile east is a BMX park. Think motorcycle track with moguls and "Vroom! Vroom!" all summer. Two billboards along I-90 have halogen lights on them. They outshine Fourth of July fireworks and reflect like beacons in the window glass in my house. At night, the blinking red light on the cell phone tower a mile to the north shines at eye level through the windows of our mobile home.
That's what living in the country is like. I can't fault landowners who found ways to make a few bucks from property ownership. After all, our place has been leased for oil and gas exploration, evaluated for a gravel pit, and solicited as a landing site for hang glider pilots. We make noise. Our cows bawl. Sometimes we bale hay from midnight to four in the morning (across from our neighbor's picture window). And, we create smoke when we burn off a quarter mile of ditch once a year. We all have our property rights. They tolerate mine: I tolerate theirs.
Zoning might provide predictability. Will the 100 acres south of me be divided into lots, and how many? Will sewer and water be provided? Will the road be paved? Who will pay for this? The current process of zoning urban donuts, planning neighborhoods, and citizen initiated zoning districts, looks at the valley through a telescope. The remaining land - between the planned areas - is again left to agriculture as a default use, but with residential density restrictions. Where is a comprehensive, coordinated plan that recognizes the value of agriculture to the valley as a whole?
Until agriculture is respected as a legitimate, designated land use, how can it survive? Farmland preserves tax-paying open space, wildlife habitat, local food production, groundwater recharge areas, carbon sequestration and reminders of what it means to live in the West. Is any of that worth keeping?"
giving you the advantage...®
Taunya Fagan Bozeman Real Estate 406.579.9683 taunya.fagan@prumt.com
