(1)   Establishing a program that enables the county to acquire conservation easements voluntarily offered by property owners to serve as one means of assuring that Stafford County's resources are protected and efficiently used;

(2)   Establishing and preserving open space and the continuing rural character of the county;

(3)   Preserving farm and forest land;

(4)   Conserving and protecting water resources and environmentally sensitive lands, waters and other resources;

(5)   Conserving and protecting biodiversity, wildlife and aquatic habitat;

(6)   Assisting in shaping the character, direction, and timing of development in the county;

(7)   Improving the quality of life for the inhabitants of the county;

(8)   Promoting recreation and tourism through the preservation of scenic and historical resources.

(a)   Administrator,  for purposes of this article, shall mean that person placed in the managerial capacity over the daily operations of the PDR program. The administrator shall serve as a direct liaison for the program. 

(b)   Accessory use  means a use which is clearly incidental to, and customarily found in connection with, the principal use of the same parcel or group of contiguous parcels under common ownership and operated as an agricultural enterprise. 

(c)   Agricultural uses  means those land uses including farms, (and farm residences), the tilling of soil, the bona fide growing and production of crops, horticulture, silviculture, aquaculture, forestry, orchards, vineyards, nursery operations, and truck farming; the raising of livestock, fowl, dairy cattle, horses or poultry. Nursery operations are considered agricultural uses. The term also includes the repair, expansion or replacement of no more than one bona fide dwelling occupied by the landowner or tenant as of the date ofapplication for entry in the PDR program, as permitted by section 28-35 of the zoning ordinance; accessory uses directly related to agricultural activities conducted on the same property, including the sale of agricultural products; equestrian uses; recreational activities; feed lots; and septic tanks and drain fields approved by the health department and which cannot be located within an area not encumbered by an agricultural land preservation easement. The term does not include the processing of agricultural, silvicultural, horticultural or aquacultural products, except as an accessory use. 

(d)   Animal unit  , as used in the property ranking system, means a unit of measurement equal to one thousand (1,000) pounds of live body weight of livestock. 

(e)   Appraisal  means a written statement or report independently and impartially prepared by a qualified appraiser setting forth an opinion of defined value of an adequately described property, or any such portion or interest therein, as of a specific date, supported by the presentation and analysis of relevant market information. 

(f)   Batch  means a grouping of contiguous parcels for purposes of making application for the sale or transfer of development rights. 

(g)   Biodiversity  means the interconnectedness of all life forms on Earth, diversity of plant and animal life in a particular habitat. 

(h)   Board  means the Board of Supervisors of Stafford County. 

(i)   Conservation easement  means (for the purposes of this chapter) a nonpossessory interest of the county in real property, whether easement appurtenant or easement in gross, acquired through gift, purchase, devise or bequest, perpetual in duration, imposing certain limitations or affirmative obligations, for the purposes of which include retaining or protecting natural or open space values of real property, assuring its availability for agricultural, forestall, recreational or open-space use, protecting natural resources, maintaining or enhancing air or water quality, or preserving the historical, or archeological aspects of real property pursuant to which the exercise of development and other specified rights on the subject property is prohibited. 

(j)   County attorney  means the County Attorney of Stafford County or his designee. 

(k)   County administrator  means the County Administrator of Stafford County or his designee. 

(l)   Commission  means the Agricultural Commission of Stafford County. 

(m)   Commissioner  means the Commissioner of the Revenue of Stafford County. 

(n)   Dwelling  means a structure which is designed and used for residential purposes. 

(o)   Director  means the director of planning and community development or his designee. 

(p)   Development rights,  means the rights to develop agriculturally zoned property for use other than an agricultural use. The term includes, but is not limited to, the right to develop property for any commercial, industrial or residential use except as expressly permitted by this chapter. 

(q)   Landowner  means the equitable owner of the fee simple title to a parcel of land or, with respect to a parcel not encumbered by a deed of trust or mortgage, the legal owner of such title. Where more than one person or entity is the legal and/or equitable owner, the term refers to all such persons or entities jointly. 

(r)   "Open space  " as defined in Code of Virginia, § 10.1-1700, means any land which is provided or preserved for: 

(i)   Park or recreational purposes,

(ii)   Conservation of land or other natural resources,

(iii)   Historic or scenic purposes,

(iv)   Assisting in the shaping of the character, direction, and timing of community development, or

(v)   Wetlands as defined in Code of Virginia, § 28.2-1300.

(s)   Parcel  means a lot or tract of land, lawfully recorded in the clerk's office of the Circuit Court of the County of Stafford. 

(t)   Program  means the purchase of development rights program established by this chapter. 

(u)   Property ranking system  or  system  means the formula by which applications for the sale of development rights are ranked in order of priority of acquisition of such rights. 

(v)   Timber harvest  means a merchantable harvest for the commercial market. The term does not include minor harvests for such things as firewood, poles, posts, blind material or greenery. 

(a)   Designation.  The board shall appoint a PDR program administrator. The administrator shall report to the deputy county administrator. 

(b)   Power and duties.  The administrator shall administer the PDR program and shall have powers and responsibilities to: 

(1)   Establish reasonable and standard procedures and forms consistent with this program for the administration and implementation of the program.

(2)   Promote the program, in cooperation with the PDR committee, by providing educational materials to the public and conducting informational meetings.

(3)   Investigate and pursue, in conjunction with county, state, federal and other programs available to provide additional public and private resources to fund the program and maximize private participation.

(4)   Evaluate all applications to determine their eligibility and their ranking score. Rank applications based on their ranking score as determined by the property ranking system and make recommendations thereon to the PDR committee.

(5)   Coordinate the contracting and delivery of appraisals for each property.

(6)   Negotiate with the landowner relating to conservation easement terms and value.

(7)   Provide staff support to the board, PDR committee and the appraisal review committee.

(8)   For each conservation easement accepted into the program, establish baseline data and assure that the terms and conditions of the easement are monitored and complied with by coordinating a monitoring program with each easement holder.

(a)   Establishment  . The PDR committee is hereby established, as follows: 

(1)   The committee shall consist of seven (7) members appointed by the board (one from each election district). Each member shall be a property owner and reside in Stafford County. The committee should, but is not required to be comprised of members who are knowledgeable in fields of conservation, conservation biology, planning, real estate, land appraisal, farming or forestry.

(2)   The members of the committee shall serve at the pleasure of the board. The terms of the members shall coincide with the terms of appointment for the board.

(3)   The members of the committee shall serve without pay, but the board may, at its own discretion, reimburse members for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his/her duties.

(4)   The committee shall elect a chairman, vice chairman and secretary at its first meeting each calendar year. The secretary need not be member of the committee.

(5)   The administrator shall be an ex-officio member of the committee.

(b)   Power and duties  : The PDR committee shall have the powers and duties to: 

(1)   Promote the program in cooperation with and under the guidance of the administrator, by providing educational materials to the public and conducting informational meetings.

(2)   Review rankings of applications recommended by the administrator and make recommendations to the administrator and the board as to which conservation easements should be purchased as determined by the property ranking system, the appraisal, and other applicable information.

(3)   Annually review the program's eligibility and ranking criteria and recommend to the administrator any changes needed to maintain the program's consistency with the comprehensive plan, or to improve the administration, implementation and effectiveness of the program.

(4)   The presence of at least four members of the committee at a regularly scheduled meeting shall constitute a quorum for purposes of conducting business and the committee shall make decisions on a "majority rule" basis.

(a)   Establishment.  The appraisal review committee is hereby established as provided herein: 

(1)   An appraisal review committee shall be created by the PDR committee and shall operate directly under its supervision.

(2)   The appraisal review committee shall consist of three (3) members comprised of at least one professional real estate appraiser, one member of the PDR committee and the county commissioner of the revenue or his or her designee from the assessment office. The members shall be appointed by the PDR committee.

(3)   The members of the appraisal review committee shall serve at the pleasure of the PDR committee. Each member, other than the county commissioner of the revenue, or his designee, shall serve a term of one year. The county commissioner of the revenue, or his designee, shall be a permanent member of the subcommittee.

(b)   Powers and duties.  The appraisal review committee shall have the power and duty to review appraisals to ensure they are consistent with appropriate appraisal guidelines and practices and make recommendations thereon to the PDR committee and provide approved appraisal results to the PDR committee and the administrator. This power and duty shall not include the authority to alter or substitute an appraisal, but only to evaluate its appropriateness under specific guidelines and practices. 

(a)   The property must be located in Stafford County within that portion of the county as described in section 22A-1 above.

(b)   The property must be no less than twenty (20) acres in area, or be included in a batch in which the combined area of contiguous parcels is no less than twenty (20) acres in area.

(c)   The property must be wholly located within an agricultural or rural residential zoning district, including A-1 or A-2, or any combination of such zoning districts;

(d)   The property must be capable of being subdivided or developed for nonagricultural uses without legislative approval;

(e)   The proposed use of the property as permanent open space shall conform with the policies set forth in Stafford County's Comprehensive Plan;

(f)   No uses or structures other than those permitted by the conservation easement shall be located upon the parcel;

(g)   If any portion of the property being considered contains any land that is currently reserved or set aside for open space, recreation or similar purposes pursuant to the provisions of a conditional use permit, variance, or other action by the board, or any ordinance or regulation; that portion shall be excluded from the appraisal process.

(a)   The property ranking system is hereby adopted. The system shall be the sole means by which the priority of acquisition of development rights under the program is determined when available funding is insufficient to purchase the development rights on all property that is the subject of received applications for the sale of development rights. The number of property ranking system points assigned to a particular property shall not be used in determining the value of development rights or the amount of any offer to purchase such rights but used solely as a means for establishing a means of prioritizing the properties for further consideration.

(b)   There shall be five (5) categories of criteria for evaluation under the system. In each category, certain factors descriptive of the characteristics of property sought to be included in the purchase of development rights program are included. Each factor is stratified into a range of possible point values ranging from zero (0) to twenty (20). To determine the total points assigned to such property, the values for all five (5) categories are added. Property having the highest total scores shall rank highestin priority of acquisition. The maximum total score is one hundred seventy-five (175) points. The categories, with their respective factors, are as follows: