The York County Board of Supervisors will review proposed regulations for farming activities in York County at a work session Tuesday.
The proposed regulations were submitted to the supervisors by the county’s planning commission June 23. The proposal affects thousands of properties in the county zoned rural residential and resource conservation, two zones featuring about 70 subdivisions throughout the county.
The changes are designed to help fortify the county’s ability to regulate farming activities in the wake of a lawsuit from York County Oyster Farmer Anthony Bavuso and a new law from the General Assembly set to take effect Jan. 1, both of which could potentially limit the county’s regulatory power.
One of the proposed regulations deals with underwater farming, a topic the planning commission focused on during its talks. The regulations would apply to land in the county used as part of an underwater farming operation, such as an oyster farm.
Oyster farms have been a source of conflict within the county, pitting a pair of farmers against county officials. The farmers, Greg Garrett and Bavuso, want to use their land as a site to offload oysters from the York River.
The proposed regulations seek to provide a clearer definition of where that activity is acceptable. These include requiring a piece of residential property to have at least 100 feet of shoreline, at least 2 acres not counting a house and its yards or any land below 2 feet of elevation, no docking of workboats within 100 feet of a residential structure on an adjacent lot, and several other provisions.
Noise and smell regulations are largely off limits due to existing state law, leaving the spatial performance standards as the most effective avenue open to the county.
The county previously tried to regulate the offloading of seafood via the special-use permit process, however impending changes to state law and the potential outcome of Bavuso’s court case could challenge that process in the future.
The other set of proposed regulations deals with livestock farming. These include two usable acres of land, a confinement area 100 feet or more from the property line if there is more than one animal per 200 square feet, and some setbacks. The commissioners added language to the proposal to exclude backyard chicken keeping from the requirements.
Since the planners made their recommendation in June, York County Administrator James McReynolds issued a memorandum saying the proposed regulations are, in the opinion of county staff, the “most straightforward and all-encompassing approach to ensuring that a property is of a sufficient size to accommodate livestock-keeping agriculture uses and aquaculture uses with adequate room for setbacks and buffers to protect adjoining properties and development from potentially objectionable impacts.”
The board will decide at its Tuesday meeting whether to sponsor the proposed regulations. If sponsored, the regulations will go back to the planning commission for review before returning to the supervisors for final consideration. Tuesday’s meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. at York Hall, will not feature a public hearing.
Related Coverage:
- York Planners Identify Potential Farming Regulations
- Supervisors Rezone York Point to New Residential Designation, Cut Farming Rights
- Planners Say No to Rezoning York Point
- York Residents, Farming Activists Spar Over Property Rights
- Greg Garrett Seeks to Clear Dandy Oyster Farm with York County
- York Supervisors to Consider Plan to Bar Farming, Accessory Apartments from York Point
- Land-Use Debate Pits York Point Residents Against Each Other
- York Planners to Study Proposed Zoning Changes That Could Erase Farming on Thousands of Properties
- Ag Bill Lessens Local Control of Aquaculture; Regulatory Options Remain for York County
