SALISBURY — The Rowan County Board of Commissioners voted during their Monday meeting to update the county ordinances concerning Voluntary Agricultural Districts.

The changes were made so that the ordinances will remain consistent with state law after a change to the statutes regarding the districts was passed in 2021, according to Amy-Lynn Albertson, the county’s cooperative extension director.

Most of the approved changes either update the language of the ordinances or create new provisions that were already in practice by the county.

The statutes passed in 2021 changed the definition of what qualified to farmland. Now, Voluntary Agricultural Districts must fit under what the state calls “bona fide farm purposes.”

For a farm to qualify as being used for “bona fide farm purposes” it can only receive 25 percent of gross sales from non-farm products. Albertson said that the owners of the farm also must be able to show that they sold more than $1,000 in agricultural products.

The new ordinance does change the notification period for the agricultural advisory to advertise a request for condemnation. The board is now required to publish notice in newspapers within 10 days of the request rather than the previous two days. The public hearing must now be held within 30 days of the request instead of the previous 14 days.

The ordinance now includes statements that land value cannot be a factor in selection between properties under consideration for condemnation and that condemnation can only be used as a last resort for the districts.

Albertson said that one of the changes to the ordinances, a change to how the county’s GIS system notifies property researchers, has already been put into practice by the county. The GIS shows anyone who is researching a property whether it is within a half of a mile of a Voluntary Agricultural District.

“That person’s notified that this property would be within one half of an aerial mile of a farm. This is to make sure that there’s no confusion about being in an active farming area versus not,” said Albertson.

The commissioners voted unanimously to approve the changes to the ordinances.