Public hearings opened on Consolidated Agricultural Districts 1 and 2; local landowner seeks parcel consolidation

The Washington County Board of Supervisors opened public hearings on the eight-year reviews of Consolidated Agricultural District Number 1 and Consolidated Agricultural District Number 2 on Feb. 5, 2025. The hearings will consider recommendations from the county Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board and any proposed modifications to the districts.

During the Consolidated Agricultural District Number 1 hearing, landowner Hank Dimuzio testified that he and his family own multiple parcels in the town of Hampton and asked the board to support consolidating two parcels (parcel 5314.9 and 53116) that were split because of a prior logging dispute and resurvey. Dimuzio said the parcel configuration left properties "landlocked" and in different school, fire and agricultural districts. "My wife and I and my in laws own 12 parcels in the town of Hampton," Dimuzio said. He described efforts to resurvey an old barbed-wire fence line that resulted in four parcels of varying acreage and asked the board to support merging two parcels to simplify ownership and districting.

The board called for public comment on Consolidated Agricultural District Number 2; no one spoke and the board closed that hearing after calling for speakers three times.

Both hearings were opened and then closed in sequence at the meeting; no formal votes or amendments to the district boundaries were taken at the meeting. The notices published for the hearings reference the board's order dated Jan. 29, 2025, and call for interested persons to be heard during the hearings. The board did not announce any schedule for final action on district modifications during this session.