The Prince William Board of County Supervisors unanimously approved a request to add approximately 84 acres of land into an agricultural and forestal district during their board meeting on April 28.
Located near the Nokesville School, the first parcel, located at 13063 Hickerson Lane, is 80 acres. It will be used for fields, forestry, crops, and livestock. The second four-acre parcel is located at 13209 Farmview Road, known as the Madera Farm. It will be used as a “wooded lot to be forested,” according to county documents.
The Agricultural and Forestal Districts are established to “provide a means for a mutual undertaking by landowners and localities to protect and enhance agricultural and forestal land as a viable segment of the Commonwealth’s economy and as an economic and environmental resource of major importance,” according to the Code of Virginia.
This addition occurred while the Prince William County Agricultural and Forestal District was under its periodic review during which owners of the land parcels that make up the district can request to be removed from it.
Many have requested to be removed from the agricultural zone, according to long-range planner Connie Dalton, which has weakened the already weak district where farmland is disappearing.
“Unfortunately, based upon the review and what we’ve been told, Agricultural and Forestal District 91-1 may be the only one that’s left. Loudoun county has 79,000 acres in their Agricultural and Forestal District, they have 23 of them, we have maybe one at the end of this review session,” said Jason Hickman, an attorney representing the owner of the two parcels of land.
The added 84 acres, however, may help revitalize the district, according to Brentsville District Supervisor Jeanine Lawson.
“These applications will actually strengthen that particular district,” said Lawson.
Lawson gave a directive for Prince William staff to come up with creative incentives for inviting more landowners into the Agricultural and Forestal Districts.
