Hartland is out of the Shawano County Farmland Preservation Plan after a dispute between the town and state officials regarding a map could not be resolved.
The county steering committee voted 9-1 to move ahead with the plan minus Hartland’s map, despite objections from the town’s officials and a consultant that helped Hartland develop its map. The plan will now move to the two standing committees — Land Conservation and Planning, Development and Zoning — next week for approval to send to the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection for its 90-day review process.
The county had sent a draft of the plan to DATCP earlier this year to see if there were major structural or procedural issues that needed to be fixed before a 10-year certification could be granted. A letter from DATCP dated June 24 said that, aside from minor fixes, the only glaring issue was Hartland’s map.
County Planner Steve Kunst pointed out that a new law awaiting the Wisconsin Legislature’s approval could allow DATCP to reject the county’s plan outright instead of allowing a shorter certification of five years.
Keith Foye, chief of DATCP’s land management section, indicated in the letter that the town’s description that existing agricultural land was expected to maintain farming uses for at least the next 15 years was unacceptable.
“This description is vague and seems like an oversimplification of how the map was actually developed,” Foye wrote.
Another concern was that the town appeared to use commitments from farmers to develop its map; the state feels the commitments should be a contributing, but not determining, factor.
Hartland officials disagreed and sent a letter to DATCP seeking options to reconcile the issue. The town has not received a response; however, Kunst said he talked to a DATCP official Thursday who said the map is still unacceptable as is.
The town hoped the committee would buck the state’s guidelines and include Hartland’s map, rolling the dice and hoping certification could be achieved before the Legislature changes the law.
Committee members were unwilling to jeopardize the tax credits of their towns’ farmers in order to show support for Hartland.
County Supervisor Robert Krause, the representative for the Land Conservation Committee, pointed out that the towns of Green Valley and Angelica wanted to adopt similar preservation maps that Hartland did, but they were bound by state guidelines requiring large, contiguous blocks of land being preserved for farmland.
“I just don’t see holding up the process at this point and asking for an extension,” Krause said. “Those of us who have dealt with Madison know they stick with their guns.”
County Supervisor Richard Ferfecki, Angelica’s representative, agreed, pointing out the other towns would object to Hartland getting away with skirting the rules.
“If you accept Hartland and DATCP approves it, you’re going to have anarchy because the other six towns (in the plan) are going to contest it,” Ferfecki said.
The update is needed this year to enable farmers in seven towns in the county to continue receiving tax credits from the state through its Working Lands Law, which took effect in 2009.
Farmers in a farmland preservation area can receive credits of $7.50 per acre, and those in a designated agriculture enterprise area can receive $10 per acre in credits. In 2011, county farmers received $293,158 in tax credits.
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