The Agricultural Stewardship Act of 2006 (HB 2) was passed by the Maryland General Assembly. The legislation requires counties that are certified under the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF) to receive funding for farmland preservation to establish Priority Preservation Areas (PPAs) in their comprehensive plans and manage them according to certain criteria. There are two sets of requirements, relating to conditions in the PPA itself and the county comprehensive plan, respectively. 

The legislation established modified the existing agricultural land preservation certification program to include Priority Preservation Areas (PPAs). Beginning in FY 2009, certified counties will have to include a PPA element in their comprehensive plans in order to maintain certification. The legislation required the PPA Element to be adopted by July 1, 2008. 

The Carroll County Planning Commission unanimously approved the Priority Preservation Area Element on September 13, 2010. The Planning Commission forwarded the approved and certified PPA Element to the Board of County Commissioners with a recommendation to adopt the PPA. The Board of County Commissioners adopted the PPA Element on September 30, 2010. 

The Priority Preservation Area Element identifies areas of agricultural and forestry resource land that would support agricultural production and timber harvesting for the present and future. An estimated 92,909 acres of land are delineated within the Agricultural Land Priority Preservation Area. Within this defined area, the County's goal is to permanently preserve 64,589 acres of undeveloped land for agricultural production.

The PPA must be prepared according to Section 2-518 of the Maryland Agriculture Article. 

To review or download the complete document, click here: 

Complete PPA Element