TITLE 67

STATE GOVERNMENT AND STATE AFFAIRS

CHAPTER 97

AGRICULTURAL PROTECTION AREA ACT

67-9704.  AGRICULTURal PROTECTION AREAS. (1) No later than January 1, 2025, each board of county commissioners shall establish an agricultural protection area ordinance in accordance with the notice and hearing procedures in section 67-6509, Idaho Code. At a minimum, the ordinance shall:

(a)  Establish a process through which agricultural lands may be placed in agricultural protection areas for a minimum of twenty (20) years;

(b)  Establish the application requirements, including but not limited to information about the landowner; a description of the parcels, structures, and facilities proposed to be included in an agricultural protection area; and the current uses of lands proposed to be included in an agricultural protection area;

(c)  Establish clear and objective standards for evaluating applications for inclusion in an agricultural protection area;

(d)  Establish the timeline for reviewing and making decisions on agricultural protection area applications; and

(e)  Establish an application fee to cover the administrative costs of processing applications, including but not limited to reviewing application materials, holding public meetings and hearings, providing public notice, recording applicable documents, and updating county land use maps, provided that such fee shall not exceed the actual costs of processing the application.

(2)  No later than January 1, 2025, each board of county commissioners shall establish by resolution or ordinance an agricultural protection area commission pursuant to section 67-9705, Idaho Code.

(3)  Agricultural protection areas shall be designated on future land use planning maps to serve as a voluntary and expeditious tool for working landowners while also informing planners, commissions, county officials, and citizens at large on how to proactively plan for agriculture.

(4)  The designations of specific parcels of land as agricultural protection areas shall not impact other parcels of land not designated as agricultural protection areas.

History:

[67-9704, added 2024, ch. 215, sec. 1, p. 763.]