Common Contracts
1 similar Development Rights Agreement contracts
DEV'T RIGHTS AGREEMENT OR EASEMENTS ON FARMLANDDevelopment Rights Agreement • September 16th, 2003
Under the Farmland and Open Space Preservation Act - formerly Public Act 116 of 1974 and recodified as Part 361 of the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act - a farm owner may enter into a contract (a development rights agreement) that provides the farm owner with a tax credit and exemptions from several special assessments that generally do not benefit the farmland, in exchange for a promise to retain the land for agricultural use or as undeveloped open space land. The purpose of the agreement is to ensure that the land remains in agricultural use for at least 10 years and that the land not be developed for a non- agricultural use. According to committee testimony, there are approximately 50,000 of these agreements, lasting an average of 25 years, and covering 4.3 million acres of farmland in the state.
