(1) After the board determines which grants should be awarded, and the amount of the grants, the department shall distribute the grants to the local units of government awarded the grants. The department shall condition the receipt of a grant upon the department’s approval of the agricultural conservation easements being acquired.
    (2) In reviewing permitted uses contained within an agricultural conservation easement under subsection (1), the department shall consider all of the following:
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Terms Used In Michigan Laws 324.36206

  • Agricultural conservation easement: means a conveyance, by a written instrument, in which, subject to permitted uses, the owner relinquishes to the public in perpetuity his or her development rights and makes a covenant running with the land not to undertake development. See Michigan Laws 324.36201
  • Board: means the agricultural preservation fund board created in section 36204. See Michigan Laws 324.36201
  • Department: means the department of agriculture and rural development. See Michigan Laws 324.36201
  • Development: means an activity that materially alters or affects the existing conditions or use of any land in a manner that is inconsistent with an agricultural use. See Michigan Laws 324.36201
  • Farmland: means 1 or more of the following:
    (i) A farm of 40 or more acres in 1 ownership, with 51% or more of the land area devoted to an agricultural use. See Michigan Laws 324.36201
  • Grant: means a grant for the purchase of an agriculture conservation easement under this part. See Michigan Laws 324.36201
  • local unit: means a municipality or county. See Michigan Laws 324.301
  • Owner: means a person having a freehold estate in land coupled with possession and enjoyment. See Michigan Laws 324.36201
    •     (a) Whether the permitted uses adversely affect the productivity of farmland.
        (b) Whether the permitted uses materially alter or negatively affect the existing conditions or use of the land.
        (c) Whether the permitted uses result in a material alteration of an existing structure to a nonagricultural use.
        (d) Whether the permitted uses conform with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and ordinances.
        (3) The department may accept contributions of all or a portion of the development rights to 1 or more parcels of land, including a conservation easement or a historic preservation easement as defined in section 2140, as part of a transaction for the purchase of an agricultural conservation easement.
        (4) A local unit of government that purchases an agricultural conservation easement with money from a grant may purchase the agricultural conservation easement through an installment purchase agreement under terms negotiated by the local unit of government.
        (5) An agricultural conservation easement acquired under this part shall be held jointly by the state and the local unit of government in which the land subject to the agricultural conservation easement is located. However, the state may delegate enforcement authority of 1 or more agricultural conservation easements to the local units of government in which the agricultural conservation easements are located.
        (6) An agricultural conservation easement acquired under this part may be transferred to the owner of the property subject to the agricultural conservation easement if the state and the local unit of government holding the agricultural conservation easement agree to the transfer and the terms of the transfer.
        (7) Section 36109 provides for tax credits for an owner of farmland subject to an agricultural conservation easement under this section.
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