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V O L . X X V N O. X I M AY 2 7 , 2 0 1 9 20 L E W I S T O N / A U B U R N & C E N T R A L M A I N E F O C U S means a considered approach by the community and city government. e proposed zone changes wouldn't affect her plans. She says, though, she's concerned about the bigger picture and how lowering the agricultural income requirement to $1,000 would encourage non-farm development and allow people to take advantage of the system. New business opportunities Levesque appointed his own committee last fall, a few months after the first one made its recommendations. He says those who oppose his com- mittee's proposals are "self-serving." "ey pay about $25 an acre [a year in taxes]," he says. "at's compared to $100 an acre for their residential neigh- bors, and $300 if you live in town." e agricultural zone's primary pur- pose is "to conserve cheap farmland with a depressed tax value in order for exist- ing farms to keep their costs low." He says the $1,000 income/invest- ment minimum will encourage farm- ing where there isn't any now. e permanent advisory board proposal doesn't make sense and will discourage new farmers, he says, adding: "No other business in the country has to prove themselves like that." e proposed changes "would allow more working farms, would give more people the opportunity to start a busi- ness," he said. "If someone wants to start a business, I want them to start a business in Auburn." Changes needed, caution urged ose who own agricultural property, but can't build on it, have pushed hard on changes. Peter Moore, who owns 800 acres in the zone, told the city council in October that the fact he can't build a house and live on his property is "a trav- esty." He was followed at that meeting by many in the same position. But many are urging a cautious approach to changes. Adam Lee, a former mayoral candidate who offered an alterna- tive proposal with a commission to consider special exceptions to the 50% rule case-by-case, told the city council in February that the proposal "seems like a snake pit of unintended consequences." Shelley Kruszewski, executive direc- tor of Androscoggin Land Trust, said at the same meeting that the issue should be discussed with as many agencies as possible, including the Maine Farmland Trust. Last month, the Lake Auburn Watershed Protection Commission told city boards it's against the pro- posal because of the damage develop- ment could do to Lake Auburn, which is the water supply for the Lewiston- Auburn region. Agricultural issues increasing e Good Food Council put together the March conference in part because of the zoning discussion, Harper, of the organization, said. e event aimed at bringing together economic development and municipal repre- sentatives, community members and service providers to discuss opportu- nities to support regional food and farm economic development, as well as to connect farmers with those seek- ing farms. e conference had a 100-person limit, and filled up more than a week before it took place. One of the biggest issues in main- taining farmland is keeping the land agricultural as farmers get older, said Sadauckas, of Land for Good. "Auburn has done an amazing job sustaining its agricultural land," she says. e organization's goal is to keep agriculture land as working land, and it helps with farmland succession planning as well as connecting new farmers to land, and other working farm options. e rich Androscoggin Valley soil, some of the best farmland in the state, should be valued for what it offers agriculture, she says, whatever the outcome in Auburn. "Once farmland is developed, it's really hard to get it back," she says. 'Transformative changes' e Planning Board May 14 reviewed the proposal, but didn't act. It next would go to the city council for final approval. Levesque says the resulting cultural shift, "Will be one of the most trans- formative changes in the city's history, if not the state's." » C O N T I N U E D F RO M P R E V I O U S PA G E We want a strong, sustainable local economy. We have to figure out how to get there. — Karen Bolduc Auburn farmer

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