First pact saves farm
The county will pay $2.1 million for the development rights, reserving the land for agriculture.
ARLINGTON - Orin and Grace Barlond might have gone either way.
Sell their farm to developers and get millions right away, then have the land turn into subdivisions.
Or keep their farm, and sell off future development rights to Snohomish County.
The longtime Arlington farming family is in line to become the first to take the county's deal.
Orin Barlond wants to see his 91 acres of land worked by farmers for as long as possible.
"You either have houses or you have farms," Barlond said.
The county plans to pay $2.1 million for development rights on 71 acres at the Barlond farm. The deal is expected to be complete by Nov. 25.
The deal is the first made under a fledgling program adopted last year that allows Stillaguamish Valley farmers to sell the development rights for their land.
Developers can buy those rights directly from the farmers and use them to build homes on 337 acres east of Arlington. County development plans call for urban development there.
The goal of the program, adopted last year, is to preserve 3,400 acres of fertile county farmland.
Although the county is midwife to the Barlonds' deal, unanimously approved in August, some people worry about taxpayers becoming real estate middlemen.
County Councilman John Koster said he has "some angst about the county going ahead and setting the value for the development rights."
Yet it's better than the alternative, he said.
"I frankly do not want to see wall-to-wall housing in that valley," he said.
Continue reading this article from the Everett Herald:
First pact saves farm
