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Frequently
Asked Questions
March 20, 2003
Why is the Georgia Greenspace Program (the program) important?
Between 1995 and 2025, Georgia's population is projected to
grow by 37%, adding 2.7 million people. Only California, Texas and
Florida will add more people. These new Georgians will expect housing,
employment, transportation, and recreational opportunity close to
home. Unless we set aside greenspace now, we will be unable to protect
our rivers and streams, provide neighborhood recreation in growing
communities, and get people out of their cars for short trips. Greenspace
helps make communities attractive and livable, and it promotes their
economic competitiveness.
What does the program do? It encourages urban and rapidly
growing counties to set aside 20% of their land as protected greenspace
as they subdivide new land or fill in existing neighborhoods. Since
Georgia's communities are very different, in both natural and human
characteristics, the State will not establish one common approach.
Instead, the program gives each eligible community the opportunity
to develop a greenspace program, which is tailored to meet local
conditions, and provides grant funds to eligible counties with approved
programs to help them acquire greenspace for their communities.
What state agency administers the program? The statute authorizes
the Department of Natural Resources to administer and establish
rules for the Georgia Greenspace Program, which it has promulgated.
The statute also establishes a Georgia Greenspace Commission composed
of the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources and the
Director of the Georgia Forestry Commission and three other members
appointed by the Governor. Currently, serving on the Commission
are J. Frederick Allen, Director of the Georgia Forestry Commission;
Lonice Barrett, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Natural
Resources; C. Jack Ellis, Mayor, City of Macon; Clay Long of Long,
Aldridge & Norman, LLP; and Stephen Macauley, The Macauley Companies,
Inc.
Do counties have a point of contact for their programs administration?
Counties are required to identify the department or office,
which has been assigned to administer their programs, including
full information for the primary point of contact.
Why should counties set aside 20% of their land as greenspace?
Communities that have ample areas of parkland, greenways, pedestrian
and bike paths and preserved natural areas to protect its water,
wildlife and other resources are more desirable places for people
to live, work and play. Such amenities can improve the economic
competitiveness and enhance the quality of life of a community.
What kind of land is greenspace? The type of lands that
are considered to be greenspace must meet at least one of nine goals
and be permanently protected. Lands that are selected depend upon
a county's own priorities for preserving greenspace and varies from
county to county. We expect much of this land will be preserved
as floodplains and wetlands along stream corridors, as this seems
to be a priority for most counties and would meet several water
quality protection goals of the program. Land along streams naturally
forms connected corridors, or usable buffers, along which people
and wildlife can travel. But communities may also permanently protect
scenic areas, lands with archaeological and historic resources,
areas that would provide for passive outdoor recreation; paths for
walking, cycling and other alternative transportation opportunities;
and neighborhood access lands which do not lie along streams.
How do counties become eligible to participate in the program?
Any county which is urbanized or growing rapidly. The statute defines
this as a county which has attained a population of 60,000 people
as of the 1990 or any more recent decennial census, or which has
grown by 800 people a year, on average, between the 1990 or any
more recent decennial census and the most recent U.S. Bureau of
the Census estimate of population.
Will a county smaller than 60,000 people that has grown by 800
people per year become ineligible for funding if its annual growth
rate drops below 800 before it attains 60,000 people? Yes. The
statute's eligibility test for growth rate is the average annual
growth between the most recent federal decennial census and the
most recent federal estimate of population. Counties whose growth
rate declined significantly between the censuses of 1990 and 2000
and do not currently have approved programs could become ineligible
for funding in consecutive years of the program.
Can other counties become eligible to receive grants from appropriated
funds in future years? Any county that attains a population
of 60,000 in the 2000 or any later decennial census or which grows
by more than 800 people a year will become eligible for the program.
The Department determines eligibility annually based on the 2000
census and the most recent annual estimate of population, which
is prepared by the U.S. Bureau of the Census and released each Spring.
The Department notifies counties of their eligibility during the
month of July each year.
Are eligible counties required to participate? No. This
is a voluntary, non-competitive grant program. Each county that
elects to prepare a grant application report and receives approval
for greenspace programs, and that establishes a Community Greenspace
Trust Fund, will receive a state grant, which is proportional to
its levy of advalorem tax on residential property.
What happens if an eligible county decides not to participate?
That county cannot receive the community greenspace grant funds
for which it would otherwise have qualified. Any funds not used
by such a county will be distributed among the participating counties
proportionally to the amounts of the grants they all received.
Can a local government with an approved program receive its
greenspace funds in the succeeding year, even though it did not
receive its funds in the previous year because of noncompliance
with the Department of Audits and Accounts, if such government has
met its audit requirements by the next fiscal year? Yes. Once
the Department receives confirmation from the Department of Audits
and Accounts, the Department will release the current fiscal year's
greenspace funds to an approved local government that has met its
audit requirements.
If an eligible county is unable to complete its submittal by
the November 30 deadline, does its letter of intent ensure eligibility
for the following year? No. To remain eligible for the succeeding
year, a county must have had its program approved in the previous
year. A county should complete as much of the application as possible,
have it adopted by its governing body, and then submit it by the
November 30 deadline. The rules allow for a county to revise its
application and resubmit it by March 31 of the following year.
Can less-urban and slower-growth counties participate in the
program if they want to? The statute has established eligibility
criteria that restrict the program to counties that have a population
of 60,000 or more people or an annual average growth rate of 800
people per year. Therefore, appropriated funds can only be reserved
for those counties that meet the population tests established in
the legislation.
Will the State stop providing funds to a county if it doesn't
achieve 20 percent greenspace? The 20-percent figure is a goal,
not a mandate. The Georgia Greenspace Program encourages local governments
to envision how they want their jurisdictions to look 30 years or
so from now, to decide what role greenspace will play in the community,
and to take actions needed to make its vision into reality. The
county will not lose funding if it does not achieve 20 percent greenspace,
provided it has a goal of at least 20 percent and is making a good-faith
effort to achieve the goal.
Since a city cannot access appropriated funds independently
of a county, how will the State ensure that counties allow cities
to participate in the program? To participate, an eligible city
must enter into a cooperative greenspace program with the county.
A county that elects to develop a community greenspace program has
no option to refuse a municipality's request to participate. If
a county and municipality cannot work out a community greenspace
program together (even with differing requirements for the county
and the municipality), then both lose out on state-appropriated
funds.
Can a city that elected not to cooperate in a county's program
the year it was approved establish its own trust fund in the succeeding
year? The statute allows for cities to cooperate in a county's
greenspace program providing such cities develop a community greenspace
program in accordance with Code Section 36-22-6 of the statute.
A city that did not describe its greenspace program in the county's
application would need to develop a community greenspace program
for Commission approval in order to receive grant funds independent
of the county.
Can cities and counties agree to allocate the state funds differently
than on a strict population basis as provided in the statute?
The intent of the program is to provide as much flexibility as possible
to communities as they set aside greenspace. The Administrative
Rules were drafted to allow counties and cities to develop alternative
agreements for division of funds. If alternative proposals cannot
be agreed upon, then the default is to allocate funds based on population
as provided in the statute.
Can a county or a city use its portion of the state-appropriated
funds to purchase land outside the county borders if money is targeted
for watershed protection? No. An eligible county must use its
state-appropriated funds only within the borders of that county.
However, the city does have the option to use its funds outside
of the city but only within the borders of the eligible county through
which it received its state appropriated funds.
Does a county that contains non-participating municipalities
have to include those municipalities' acreage for calculating its
20% protection goal and have to commit to meet this goal? Yes.
The only allowed deductions from the county's total geographic area
are all or parts of man-made bodies of water that are larger than
500 acres, coastal waters, coastal marshlands, and the acreage of
military bases. To receive approval for funding, the county must
commit to give permanent protection to at least 20% of its base
acreage.
Will more state funds be made available to local governments
in future fiscal years? Greenspace grants are not designated
funds and; therefore, appropriated annually by the General Assembly
at the request of the Governor, as such the appropriation could
vary from year to year.
Can state grant funds be used to match federal and other funds?
Yes, provided that the funds are used exclusively to acquire greenspace
property interests or to pay for necessary acquisition services.
Can state grant funds be used for planning, development and
operations on greenspace lands? The state funds are currently
available only for the purchase price of land or easements, and
for the costs of acquisition, which includes appraisals, surveys,
due diligence investigation including Phase 1 environmental reports,
title search, title insurance, and closing costs. The county does
not have to provide matching funds, but it must commit to providing
adequate stewardship of the lands once acquired.
A county that wants to build a trail on greenspace property,
can it use the greenspace funds to pay for the phase-2 environmental
study if one is needed? The greenspace funds, and all interest
earned on them while on deposit in the county's community greenspace
trust fund, may be used to pay only for property interests and necessary
acquisition services. Greenspace funds may pay for the phase-1environmental
studies needed for acquisition, but not for studies or other costs
related to development.
Opportunities to acquire greenspace land may occur before a
county or city receives its greenspace funds. If such an opportunity
occurs, can local governments purchase property with another fund
source then reimburse that fund with greenspace funds? No. State
audit regulations will not allow the transfer of the funds into
another account.
Must a county "spend," or just "obligate,"
its grant funds within two years? The current rules allow the
county two full calendar years from the date of the grant to obligate
the funds. The Department can extend that deadline if there is a
good reason why the county has not been able to obtain a binding
contract within the two-year period.
What is the relationship of existing state-owned and -operated
land to a local government's greenspace program? For example, can
Chatham County include Ossabaw Island Wildlife Management Area,
or can DeKalb County include Stone Mountain Memorial Park in its
inventory of permanently protected greenspace? A local government
can count state-owned lands as part of its protected greenspace
inventory if those lands are managed by the Department of Natural
Resources and are dedicated as Heritage Preserves: i.e., state-owned
wildlife management areas, parks, natural areas, and historic sites
or protected under other state legislation, such as certain elements
of the Stone Mountain Master Plan. The Department of Natural Resources
has provided each county with a list of the state-owned properties
that qualify as permanently protected greenspace.
What is the relationship between the Georgia Greenspace Program
and the Chattahoochee greenspace program? The Chattahoochee
River Land Protection Campaign is an initiative of several federal,
state, local and private organizations to acquire and protect land
along the Chattahoochee River between Helen, in White County, and
Columbus, in Muscogee County. It has raised about $140 million for
land acquisition, not including any greenspace funds that have been
received by counties within the Campaign's area of interest. There
is no direct connection between the two, but any of the land acquired
and permanently protected by the Chattahoochee Campaign can be counted
toward the county's 20% greenspace goal.
How does the State ensure that a local government spends its
grant funds appropriately and provides adequate stewardship for
the lands thereafter? The local government will have its Community
Greenspace Fund audited annually and it will carry on its capital
account all lands that it wishes to count as greenspace. The local
government includes these accounts in its annual audit report, and
the Department can learn how the funds were spent and to what uses
the local government is putting the land acquired.
Can a local government condemn land for greenspace purposes?
The Greenspace statute has no effect on a county's authority to
acquire land by condemnation. However, it is unlikely that condemnation
would be widely used to acquire greenspace, because condemnation
is politically unpopular and the state funds will fall far short
of the lands available from willing landowners.
Does all greenspace have to be accessible to people? No,
but all of it must be permanently protected. Land in its natural
state may have community value by protecting water quality, historic
resources, or wildlife habitat, even if it is not available for
public use. Communities can set aside such lands as part of the
development planning process. However, for land on which public
access is desired, the right to allow public use would have to be
acquired by purchase or gift. The state grants will help communities
purchase land or access rights in areas where public access is desired.
Can sports fields and golf courses count toward the 20-percent
goal? No. The focus of the program is on maintaining land in
a relatively natural state and on water-quality protection. Sports
fields and golf courses require intensive use of fertilizer and
pesticides, and they require parking areas and, often, bleachers
and buildings.
Can cemeteries be considered as greenspace and if so, do they
have to be considered as historic sites? The Georgia Greenspace
Commission is evaluating criteria for accepting cemeteries as greenspace.
Under the criteria being considered, to count as greenspace cemeteries
would need to have been established 50 years or longer, have no
active internment, and contain enough land in a natural condition
to provide water quality benefits.
Can land that has been reclaimed from closed landfills or other
kinds of development count as greenspace? It could, in certain
circumstances. Greenspace funds can be used to help acquire the
land in areas with improvements that are repeatedly flooded but
not to purchase the improvements or pay for the removal and restoration
of the site. The Commission is evaluating criteria to determine
whether to allow brownfields, properly closed landfills, surface
mines, and other kinds of restored land could be counted as greenspace.
However, greenspace funds would not be allowed to purchase land
that has not been restored and meet the goals of the State's program.
Can a county use utility easements for greenspace? The program
rules indicate that a utility easement may be counted as greenspace
if they are permanent easements and if the local government has
the rights needed to manage the easement for something other than
installation and management of the utility. For example, a permanent
sewer or electrical transmission easement can count toward the greenspace
goal if the county can maintain the easement to improve wildlife
habitat or to operate a public pedestrian trail on the property.
Can lands be protected and then later be traded in for a different
use and replaced with some other land? One of the measures that
local governments can use to protect greenspace will be through
contractual agreements that ensure that, if the protected status
is discontinued on a parcel, such property will be replaced by other
greenspace of equal or greater monetary and resource protection
value.
Are salt marsh and large water bodies included in the calculation
of coastal counties overall geographic area? No, salt marsh
is excluded from a coastal county's geographic area in the same
way that coastal waters and man-made bodies of water in excess of
500 acres will be excluded from a county's overall geographic area.
Would U.S. Forest Service acreage be deducted from a county's
base acreage if it makes up at least 20% or more of greenspace?
No. National Forest acreage counts toward the 20% protection goal.
If 5% of the county is National Forest, then the county has only
another 15% to protect. If 22% of the county is National Forest,
then the county has to set a goal of at least 23% to participate.
Otherwise, the county would not need to receive funds for greenspace
protection.
The statute requires a county to identify the specific parcels
of land that are proposed for acquisition or protection. But this
could upset landowners and excite speculative purchasing, driving
up the price of the land. How much acquisition detail do the counties
have to provide? The Department has established a guideline
for counties to use in preparing their grant application reports.
The guideline asks counties to indicate on a map the land types
that they intend to permanently protect but not specific locations.
For example, if a county intends to protect half of the 100-year
floodplain, then it would show all of the 100-year floodplain on
a map and provide the amount of acreage in table and narrative format.
How much effort should a county (or a city) spend to inventory
lands to determine which are already permanently protected-and which
are the most desirable for protection? A county (or a city)
needs to inventory its private, unprotected lands in order to determine
where its best protection opportunities are, but this does not require
deed research. The state will provide the number of acres of federal
and state-owned greenspace in the county. The county should inventory
lands it owns which are already protected greenspace or which could
be given permanent protection. But rather than search all the deed
records for easements between private individuals and land trusts,
a county could simply contact the locally active land trusts and
ask for documentation of any easements held. This acreage is likely
to be small for most counties.
Should a county acquire land that is being auctioned to recover
unpaid property taxes? If such land furthers one or more of
the greenspace goals, it would be eligible for purchase with state
funds. If it can also be acquired at a discount from fair-market
value, the county will have leveraged its grant funds. However,
the county itself will have to decide whether a particular parcel
is a good fit with its greenspace program, and whether to seek to
acquire it.
The statute requires a county to identify any changes made in
the comprehensive plan, to assure that the plan is consistent with
the greenspace program. But it will take so long to amend the comprehensive
plan that counties may not be able to qualify for greenspace funding
in the program's first year. Can counties include in their ten-year
strategy a schedule for amending their comprehensive plans?
In the guideline that the Department has established, counties and
any participating municipalities should either describe those components
of their comprehensive plans that are consistent with the community
greenspace program, or describe amendments to their comprehensive
plans which the county and any participating municipalities have
adopted or in the process of adopting to ensure that the comprehensive
plans are consistent with the community greenspace program.
How can counties give permanent protection to local greenspace
without granting a conservation easement to another party? Greenspace,
as defined in the statute and rules, that a county or municipality
has purchased with Land and Water Conservation Fund moneys or with
state greenspace grant funds will count as permanently protected.
Today, there is no way to include greenspace that was acquired using
local, private or most federal funds except by granting a conservation
easement or entering into a covenant with a federal agency. It may
be necessary for the State and local governments to seek state legislation,
which would allow local governments to dedicate their own lands,
in a manner similar to the state's Heritage Preserve dedication
process.
Can a private landowner donate a conservation easement to convey
away the property's development rights but still continue to use
the property as before the easement was granted? Yes, if a charitable
trust or a government body empowered to hold an interest in real
property holds the easement, and if the land meets the definition
of greenspace as defined in the statute and rules. The land could
not then be used except pursuant to the terms of the easement held
by the trust.
Does conveying a conservation easement to a charitable organization
create any tax advantages for the landowner? Depending on the
owner's exact tax status, there may be a number of tax advantages
to the owner from conveying a conservation easement on property.
Advalorem taxes may decrease to the degree that a conservation easement
restricts the property's development potential and therefore its
fair market value. The value of the owner's estate may also decrease,
thus reducing inheritance taxes. An owner who donates an easement
may enjoy these benefits and may also use the value of the charitable
donation to reduce income tax obligations for a period of years.
The tax advantages of a particular transaction will depend, among
other things, on the landowner's tax status and on the percentage
of fair market value that is attributable to the interests conveyed
away by easement. Each owner should consult his or her tax advisor
concerning a proposed sale or donation of an easement.
Who is responsible for monitoring and enforcing a conservation
easement? The federal government or private land trusts hold
most of the easements in the state. The responsibility of monitoring
and enforcing conservation easements in perpetuity falls on the
easement's owner.
Can a county use subdivision restrictive covenants to create
greenspace? Yes, if the covenant confers a benefit on the public
so it is permanent instead of simply running for 20 years. It would
be more effective to require a conservation easement in favor of
the county, so there is a third-party responsibility for monitoring
and enforcement of the easement's terms.
What is the policy for forestry and agricultural lands under
conservation easements; i.e. can a landowner still harvest the timber,
and what farming practices would be acceptable? The criteria
for allowable timbering and agricultural practices have not been
established. The Department is in the process of assisting the Commission
with development of such criteria.
Since the state grant amounts are small, relative to the need
for additional land, how can a county ever hope to attain 20 percent
greenspace? What will happen to a county if it fails to reach its
goal? The program cannot by itself solve the shortage of greenspace
statewide. It is designed to encourage counties to plan for many
ways to set aside greenspace, using local, federal, state and private
resources. A county will remain eligible to continue receiving program
funding, provided that (1) it has a population of at least 60,000
or a growth rate of 800 persons per year, on average, (2) it has
an approved community greenspace program, (3) it continues to make
a good-faith effort and credible progress toward its greenspace
goal, and (4) it uses its state grant funds and the lands acquired
with those funds in accordance with the applicable provisions of
the statute, the rules, and the terms of the grant award agreement.
Can an eligible county that has no zoning laws and does not
plan to have any such laws in the foreseeable future be successful
in developing a community greenspace program? The statute and
rules require an eligible county that elects to participate in the
program to describe in its application certain existing tools that
promote the protection of greenspace, identify the structural and
legal barriers that would be prohibitive to a county achieving its
greenspace goal, and describe the strategies that would be used
to remove or mitigate such barriers.
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