The smells of a farming community aren’t always pleasant. To some they’re a viable necessity in order to keep farms functioning properly.

Members of an ad hoc committee dedicated to the creation and implementation of voluntary agricultural districts in the county are planning to meet again with county commissioners on Nov. 2 to discuss updated plans to spread information of what these districts are.

“There’s a strong agricultural heritage here,” Paige Burns, assistant horticulture agent and interim county extension office director said. “So, recognition is a big part of a volunteer agricultural district.”

A volunteer agricultural district is an officially sanctioned program which allows farmers in a community to band together to form a larger, cohesive unit which can aid in preserving property and land.

“It’s very unrestrictive,” Burns said. “No punitive aspect to it either.”

When a agricultural district is formed several things are set into motion.

According to James Armstrong, Richmond County planner, people who move into the area, which also encompasses a one mile buffer area, will be made fully aware that they are living in a, ‘working farm area.”

If a district was formed, the party who moved into the area cannot object to what is going on, which may include: spreading hog manure and all the sights, sounds and smells of a chicken farm, according to Burns.

Signs would also be posted in the area, alerting anyone who comes into the district, according to Burns.

“It helps protect property owners,” Burns said. “And there’s no legally binding aspect.”

It also gives farm owners some protection from events like nuisance lawsuits or potential condemnation by the state if the state wanted to route a bypass through the land.

If the state wanted to route a road through the land, they would be required to look at other non-district farms first and it would also have to be heard at a public hearing, according to Burns.

“It’s sets-up a couple of hurdles to get through,” Burns said.

The committee will speak to the County Commissioners at the next session to give them an update on the plans and ask for the commissioners blessing to hold informational meetings which will allows Burns and others in the ad hoc group to speak to members in the community.

“These will attract the public so we can make sure they know what the VAD is about,” Armstrong said. “And how it benefits them.”

If passed, meetings around Richmond County will work as informational conduits which allows anyone to learn more about what VADs do, where they are and what they plan to on doing.

“This gets everything on the up and up and keeps everything transparent,” Burns said.

Several surrounding counties, including Moore, Anson and Montgomery, already have VADs set in place, according to Armstrong.

“We’re not reinventing the wheel,” Armstrong said. “We’re just following in the tracks of other counties.”

Armstrong thinks the county is several months away from acting on the plans -possibly December or January.

According to Burns, the ordinance is basically complete and is currently in the process of being proofed.

n Staff writer Bryan Stewart can be reached at 997-3111 or by e-mail at bstewart@yourdailyjournal.com