Most York County municipalities created some form of agricultural zone in the earliest rendition of their zoning ordinance. Many have made little or no changes to that zoning since its inception. Fortunately a body of case law has developed that generally supports the right of the municipality to zone in such a way as to control or limit the rate of development of agricultural ground. The following are some of the basic methods incorporated into York County municipality zoning ordinances to protect ag lands from over development: (Source: YCPC; Protecting York County’s Rural Environment: Current Zoning and Preservation Practices, June 2009)
Fixed-System Formula Zoning. Thesimplest zoning method to limit development in an ag zone is to allow only a fixed number of building rights per acre – for example, allow quarter-acre lot development in the residential zone but limit development in the ag zone to one right per 25 acres. While such a straight-forward limitation shifts development into residential areas rather than ag areas, it does little to control how the ag zone itself is developed.
Sliding-Scale Formula Zoning. Ordinances that implement a sliding scale provide that small parcels are allowed more development rights (perhaps one right per five acres) while larger tracts have more limited developability (perhaps one building right per 25 or 30 acres). This has the effect of shifting development to areas where small communities already exist, and away from areas of large-tract farms, thus preserving the tracts where farming is most sustainable. Sliding scale is prevalent throughout York County and has been upheld in a number of York County legal tests, and remains one of the most reliable methods to defend farm ground from development.
Percentage-Based Formula Zoning. In this method, parcels within the ag zone are allowed to be developed to a certain percentage of the parcel’s total area. For example, in a ten-percent zone, a 100-acre farm would be allowed to develop ten acres, perhaps into ten 1-acre residential parcels. The concept of percentage zoning was challenged and found to be unconstitutional by our Supreme Court in in the case of C&M Developers, Inc., v. Bedminster Twp. ZHB, 820 A.2d 143 (Pa. 2001).
Timothy J. Bupp
717.848.4900 ext. 121 
717.843.9039
tbupp@cgalaw.com
