(a) As used in this section, “municipality” means any city, town, borough, district or association with municipal powers; “agricultural land” means any land in the state suitable by reference to soil types, existing and past use of such land for agricultural purposes and other relevant factors for the cultivation of plants for production of human food and fiber or production of other useful and valuable plant products and for the production of animals, livestock and poultry useful to man and the environment, and land capable of providing economically profitable farm units, and may include adjacent pastures, wooded land, natural drainage areas and other adjacent open areas; “development rights” means the rights of the fee simple owner of agricultural land to develop, construct on, sell, lease or otherwise improve the agricultural land for uses that result in rendering such land no longer agricultural land, but shall not be construed to include: (1) The uses defined in subsection (q) of section 1-1, (2) the rights of the fee owner of agricultural land to develop, construct on, sell the property in its entirety, lease or otherwise improve the agricultural land to preserve, maintain, operate or continue such land as agricultural land, including, but not limited to, construction thereon of residences for persons directly incidental to farm operation and buildings for animals, roadside stands and farm markets for sale to the consumer of food products and ornamental plants, facilities for the storing of equipment and products or processing thereof or such other improvements, activities and uses thereon as may be directly or incidentally related to the operation of the agricultural enterprise, as long as the acreage and productivity of arable land for crops is not materially decreased and due consideration is given to the impact of any decrease in acreage or productivity of such arable land upon the total farm operation, except that new construction or modification of an existing farm building necessary to the operation of a farm on prime farmland, as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture, of which the state has purchased development rights shall be limited to not more than five per cent of the total of such prime farmland, (3) the rights of the fee owner to provide for the extraction of gravel or like natural elements for purposes directly or incidentally related to the operation of the agricultural enterprise or (4) the existing water and mineral rights, exclusive of gravel, of the fee owner.

(b) Any municipality, by vote of its legislative body, may establish a special fund, which shall be known as the agricultural land preservation fund. There shall be deposited in said fund (1) all moneys received by the municipality, from whatever source and by whatever means, as gifts for agricultural land preservation purposes; (2) all moneys received by the municipality, from whatever source and by whatever means, as grants or loans for agricultural land preservation purposes, and (3) all moneys appropriated to said fund by the municipality.

(c) Said fund shall be in the custody of the treasurer or other officer in charge of funds of the municipality. All or any part of the moneys in said fund may, from time to time, be invested in any securities in which public funds may lawfully be invested. All income derived from such investments shall be paid into the fund and become a part of the fund. The moneys so invested shall at all times be subject to withdrawal from such investment for use as provided in subsection (e) of this section.

(d) Annually, the treasurer or other officer having custody of said fund shall submit to the legislative body of the municipality a complete and detailed report of the condition of said fund, which report shall be made a part of the annual municipal report.

(e) (1) Upon authorization of the body in such municipality having the power of appropriation, the moneys in said fund may be used by the municipality for the acquisition in its name of the development rights of agricultural land and for any expenditure incurred for the preservation of agricultural land, provided (A) the development rights have been voluntarily offered for sale to the municipality by the owner, and (B) the land has been designated for preservation purposes by the municipality in an open space plan, municipal plan of conservation and development or farmland preservation plan.

(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this section, the municipality may use the moneys in said fund for the acquisition in its name of the rights of the fee owner of agricultural land to construct any residence or any farm structure on agricultural land.

(3) The municipality may accept as a gift in its name the rights of the fee owner of agricultural land to construct any residence or any farm structure on agricultural land.

(P.A. 84-184; P.A. 86-135, S. 2; P.A. 95-335, S. 12, 26; P.A. 07-217, S. 15; P.A. 13-59, S. 1.)

History: P.A. 86-135 amended Subsec. (e) by adding provisos specifying that development rights must be offered voluntarily and that land has been formally designated for preservation purposes; P.A. 95-335 amended Subsec. (e) to change “plan of development” to “plan of conservation and development”, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 07-217 made technical changes in Subsec. (c), effective July 12, 2007; P.A. 13-59 amended Subsec. (e) by designating existing provisions as Subdiv. (1) and making technical changes therein, adding Subdiv. (2) re use of moneys in the fund for acquisition of the rights of the fee owner of agricultural land to construct any residence or farm structure on agricultural land, and adding Subdiv. (3) re acceptance as a gift of the rights of the fee owner of agricultural land to construct any residence or farm structure, effective June 3, 2013.

See chapter 422a re state program for the preservation of agricultural land.