BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

CANTON -- Beginning March 1 St. Lawrence County will be accepting requests to add and remove property from agricultural districts.

In agricultural district one, applications will be accepted to both add and remove property, while applications for district two will be accepted if a landowner wishes to have their land added from the district, county officials say.

Each year, petitions are accepted to add property to either district, officials say.

At the moment, district one is undergoing an eight-year review. That district includes the towns of DeKalb, DePeyster, Edwards, Fowler, Gouverneur, Hammond, Hermon, Macomb, Morristown, Oswegatchie, Pitcairn and Rose.

District two includes the towns of Brasher, Canton, Hopkinson, Lawrence, Lisbon, Louisville, Madrid, Massena, Norfolk, Parishville, Pierrepont, Potsdam, Russell, Stockholm and Waddington.

Legislators also previously said a proposal is on the table to consolidate districts one and two.

Officials say the agricultural districts help protect farmland and farming activities in the county, a process that has been scrutinized in recent years with the rise of solar projects throughout the county. Critics of the solar arrays say prime farmland is being taken over by the projects, while landowners say they have a right to do as they please with the property they pay taxes on.

Under state law, a 30-day period is required to give landowners and municipalities the opportunity to petition for the inclusion of or removal of land from an agricultural district.

State regulations also require the county to give the public the opportunity to comment on any proposed changes to the districts as recommended by the Agricultural and Farmland Protection Board which is to be completed with a public hearing, officials say.

The 30-day modification period for the eight-year review will run concurrently with the Agricultural District Review of the county, which occurs March 1-30 each year, officials say.

The public hearing will also be held to allow individuals the opportunity to comment on the recommendations.

The public hearing will be held on Tuesday, April 23 at 6 p.m. at the Human Services Center Conference Room, located at 80 State Highway 310, Canton.

Digital maps depicting the agricultural districts can be found at https://maps.dancgis.org/ima/.

In order to have property added or removed from the districts, land owners must submit a for with information about the property to the County Planning Office.

Blank forms can be obtained at local municipal offices, by calling the County Planning Office at (315) 379-2292 or by downloading it from https://stlawco.gov/sites/default/files/Planning/inclusion%20form(5).pdf.

All applications must be received or postmarked no later than March 30.

For more information, contact the St. Lawrence County Planning Office at (315) 379-2292 or email planning@stlawco.gov