Town renews Farmland Preservation certificate

The Belgium Town Board on Tuesday reaffirmed its commitment to agriculture by approving a renewal of its Farmland Preservation certificate.

The certificate verifies that the land meets state soil and water conservation standards. 

“It’s very near and dear to my heart. This is the one tool we think can help us stave off annexation, certainly to the south. We’re going to do what we can to keep the Town of Belgium the Town of Belgium. We want to remain who we are,” Town Chairman Tom Winker said.

The City of Port Washington annexed land in the Town of Port Washington to pave the way for construction of a data center, which borders the Town of Belgium and has stoked fears that expansion could come north.

The hope, Winker said, is to create a conservation easement, which requires land remain agricultural in perpetuity, along Dixie Road, the border between the town and city, in order to discourage data center expansion. Winker said he will approach the Ozaukee County Board for seed money for the easement. 

Winker said the town supports all its farms, but it especially wants to preserve the ones that heavily invested in equipment and that are milking hundreds of cows a day.

“We want to make sure we protect their land base so that they can milk cows,” he said.

The town, Winker said, has many second, third and fourth-generation farmers.

“They have made the Town of Belgium and we want to make sure they will continue to stay in business by protecting their farmland and their ag base,” he said.

Zoning Administrator Charlie Parks said agricultural land makes up more than 90% of the town’s land.

“Farmland preservation has really helped to underpin our land use planning,” he said.

The program is part of state statutes but guidance is not provided on how to administer it, Parks said. The town has been working with the Department of Agriculture on the details to change some of the town’s ordinances to better align with the department’s plan. Those include allowing a sibling or son or daughter to build a home on a farm or allow a farmer to sell his home while the land remains farmland.

 Town resident Dan Large, president of the Northern Ozaukee School Board who is seeing the district face enrollment challenges, wants to see smart growth incorporated into the renewed initiative. The 35-acre lot requirement, he said, didn’t preserve farmland.

“It made 35-acre lots,” he said. “I think we’ve got to do it differently.”
Parks said the 35-acre requirement was adopted in 1995 and dropped in 2015, but the new requirements were so strict it held back growth.

The Plan Commission talked about pieces of land that aren’t prime farmland that should be marketable to allow for growth, Parks said.

“Dan is right. You always want to be able to grow in some way, otherwise you’re going stagnant,” he said.

The town is the only municipality in Ozaukee County that has Farmland Preservation. Town Supr. and County Board member Tom Bichler said others wish they would have joined years ago.

“All 26 (members) are in favor of it. They’re all envious and jealous of what the town has done for years. They wish they could go back to what we have,” he said.