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Mecklenburg interlocal for Voluntary Agricultural Districts ratified by Huntersville board
Summary
Huntersville approved a resolution to ratify interlocal cooperation with Mecklenburg County to join a county Voluntary Agricultural District (VAD) program that offers a baseline VAD and an enhanced option to protect farmland and provide programmatic benefits to enrolled bona fide farms.
The Huntersville Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution April 22 to ratify interlocal cooperation with Mecklenburg County to participate in the county's Voluntary Agricultural District (VAD) program.
County sustainability staff Erin Stanford and Kathleen Reed presented the VAD framework: a voluntary program that allows bona fide farms to enroll in a 10-year conservation agreement (automatically renewed) that aims to protect farmland, reduce nuisance litigation risk, and increase visibility for farms through GIS layers and signage. An enhanced VAD option would record agreements on the deed and provide additional benefits, including priority for certain grants, higher North Carolina Ag Cost Share percentages, and limited public-hearing protections if a public agency seeks condemnation.
Staff said the county's farmland-preservation plan guided the program and that Mecklenburg would become the 92nd county in North Carolina with a VAD when adopted. Staff reported there are roughly 10,000 acres of farmland in the county, about 2,000 of which lie inside Huntersville town and ETJ boundaries, and the county's early enrollment target is 500 acres by June 2026.
Presenters said the program is voluntary; baseline VAD agreements need not be recorded with the register of deeds, while enhanced agreements are recorded and are irrevocable for an initial 10-year period. The county will establish an Agricultural Advisory Board (majority farmers) with ex officio members including Cooperative Extension and Soil & Water Conservation. Municipalities that sign an MOU permit farms within corporate boundaries to participate; county staff said they had met with all seven municipalities and expect MOUs in place in spring.
Commissioners asked about the character of Huntersville farms (staff said primarily small-scale produce and forestry operations, not large animal processing) and about "water abeyance" language; staff said that fee-waiver language in state statute was not applicable in Mecklenburg County and would not be included. The board approved the interlocal resolution unanimously.
