
Land use planning is a highly effective (and cost-efficient) form of farmland preservation, and includes an array of regulatory tools such as zoning, conservation subdivision design, and overlay districts. State-level review of proposed development under Act 250 requires conformance with local and regional plans, which gives these plans additional legal weight when Act 250 is triggered. However, Act 250 is not itself a statewide land use plan, and many developments are designed to avoid triggering Act 250 jurisdiction, leaving local policies as the only regulatory oversight.
A tendency in traditional planning to characterize farmland as “open space” can diminish the understanding of farms as businesses and downplay the importance of supporting farms through economic development initiatives as well as land preservation. However, there are mechanisms by which planning can support the agricultural economy. For example, a local food economy depends on adequate aggregation and processing infrastructure, which depends upon not only development regulations but also utilities such as water and wastewater processing, all within the purview of planning.
Planning is also an important and increasingly utilized tool for improving food access at several points in the supply chain. For example, food access is dependent upon food retailers. The location of these retailers can be influenced by zoning regulations or development incentives, or location challenges can be mitigated through better transportation planning (see Food Security brief.)