Fawn eyes Agricultural Security Area to protect farm land
Fawn supervisors are looking at securing some farm land and operations in the township.
Officials are considering forming an Agricultural Security Area, or ASA, which is a state-sponsored program, according to supervisors Chairman Dave Montanari and Greg Boulos, owner and operator of Blackberry Meadows Farm, an 85-acre organic farm that is part of the proposal.
Montanari said slightly more than 500 acres throughout the township are part of an application for an ASA. Under the law, the minimum acreage for such an area is 250.
As of 2016, nearly 1,000 ASAs have been formed in 65 counties, according to the state Department of Agriculture's 2016 Bureau of Farmland Preservation report. There are almost 4 million acres enrolled across the state.
The areas "strengthen and protect quality farmland from the urbanization of rural areas by protecting against local nuisance ordinances related to farming activities and providing oversight in certain cases of eminent domain," the report states.
For example, Boulos, 42, said if a housing development is built next to a farm in the township and the developer or new residents start complaining about the smell of manure from the farm, they can start pressuring township officials.
If the pressure becomes great enough, officials could be compelled to alter the farm's operation by approving restrictive ordinances, he said.
When a property is part of an ASA, township officials are prohibited from doing that. They cannot tell a farm owner what to grow or not grow or how to do it, Boulos said.
"This is essentially the 'Right to Farm Act' coded into the township," Boulos said.
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Boulos said there are eight landowners, holding 16 parcels totaling 518 acres in Fawn, who are involved with the application. He said under the law, the parcels do not have to be in one, contiguous block.
The process for establishing an Agricultural Security Area involves six steps, including holding a public hearing, which takes roughly six months to complete. Currently, the township is on the third step.
"We're going through legal review by the solicitor to make sure there is not an issue and the planning commission is going to look at it," Montanari said.
The law also requires the township to set up an Agricultural Security Advisory Committee to review the proposal and make a recommendation to the supervisors.
Boulos, who has owned Blackberry Meadows for 10 years, said he took the idea to other landowners first, before taking the proposal to township officials.
Boulos said that, once approved, an ASA will come up for renewal in seven years. He said more farm land owners can join the ASA at any time, and those who are part of it are free to drop out of it whenever they want.
"There are 300-some farms in Allegheny County that are in ASAs," Boulos said.
Noting Fawn's rural character, which residents and officials have tried to maintain through the years, Boulos said, "Fawn Township seems almost perfect for an ASA."
Tom Yerace is a freelance writer. Staff writer Brian C. Rittmeyer contributed to this report. Reach Rittmeyer at 724-226-4701, brittmeyer@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BCRittmeyer.
