Commissioners OK PDR option
David Czurak

By unanimous vote, and without a single objection, Kent County commissioners agreed Thursday morning to buy the development-rights options from six farms for 631.5 acres of farmland at a cost of about $1.13 million.

“We are getting a big bang for our bucks,” said Commissioner Jim Talen.

Talen was referring to the transaction’s per-acre cost of $1,786.

Earlier deals the county struck for its Purchase of Development Rights program carried a per-acre price tag nearly triple that cost at $5,020.

Despite the vote, though, more has to be done to bring the transaction to closing.

First, the property owners have to agree to the option. Second, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has to approve the county’s request for a $519,000 grant that is integral to the deal going through.

Kendra Wills of the Kent/MSU extension service said if the USDA denies the county’s grant application, the sales transaction won’t be completed because the county won’t have enough money to buy the development rights. The application deadline is Feb. 17 and Wills said she would meet the deadline.

Commissioners also agreed to apply for a PDR grant from the Grand Rapids Community Foundation. GRCF, which has supported the program in the past, has offered the county $300,000 over three years. But accepting the grant may require the county to spend some tax dollars to receive it.

Only Commissioner Ted Vonk voted against filing the application, as he felt there wasn’t enough real estate activity going on due to the economy to worry about new developments popping up on farms. “I’m sure there are developers who would be happy to sell property rights back to the county,” he said.

Should the options agreement close, the new acres would raise the preserved total from 758 to 1,389.5. A completed transaction would also mark the first time county tax dollars have been spent to buy development rights, as the $275,000 commissioners approved late last year is included as part of the local match for the USDA grant.

Commissioners created the PDR ordinance in November 2002.