320 Quarry Rd, Fairmount, GA 30139

Agriculture District

Located within Pickens County are several areas, which contain soils highly suitable for the cultivation of agricultural crops and forests. Land in the agricultural district constitutes a valuable natural resource, and protection is in the public interest. Agriculture and forestry are major components of the county's economy, and they remain viable economic enterprises in that land is held in relatively large tracts.; The continuation of agriculture and forestry as viable land uses and components of the local economy is threatened by rural residential, suburban and urban land uses and land subdivision. When land is divided into smaller tracts, it becomes less suitable for agriculture and forestry production because the assembly of enough acreage for a farm of minimum efficient size becomes difficult. Smaller tracts generally sell for a higher price per acre, and subdivision of large agricultural or forest tracts generally results in the increase of per-acre land values. The availability of smaller tracts at lower cost attracts exurban and suburban residential and non-farm buyers into the market, thereby increasing adjacent land values for residential uses and decreasing land values for agricultural and forest uses. The cumulative impact of the subdivision of farm and forest lands into small lots increases the level of conflict between farmers foresters and non-farmers, makes farming more difficult, and eventually leads to dissolution of the agricultural and forest economy.; Therefore, pursuant to the many goals, objectives, policies, and recommendations of the comprehensive plan for the county, an agricultural land use intensity district is hereby established with the purposes of maintaining the agricultural and forest land resources in a form amenable to the continuation of agriculture, restricting the division of farmland so that it does not become broken up into small parcels, thereby avoiding the accelerated conversion of land to residential uses and discouraging the shift of the land market from agricultural and rural to suburban and urban.