Connecticut General Statutes
Chapter 422a - Agricultural Lands
Section 22-26bb. - Definitions.

As used in sections 22-26aa to 22-26nn, inclusive:

(a) “Agricultural land” means any land in the state suitable by reference to soil types, existing and past use of such land for agricultural purposes and other relevant factors for the cultivation of plants for production of human food and fiber or production of other useful and valuable plant products and for the production of animals, livestock and poultry useful to man and the environment, and land capable of providing economically profitable farm units, and may include adjacent pastures, wooded land, natural drainage areas and other adjacent open areas;
(b) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Agriculture;
(c) “Department” means the Department of Agriculture;
(d) “Development rights” means the rights of the fee simple owner of agricultural land to develop, construct on, sell, lease or otherwise improve the agricultural land for uses that result in rendering such land no longer agricultural land, but shall not be construed to include: (1) The uses defined in subsection (q) of section 1-1, (2) the rights of the fee owner of agricultural land to develop, construct on, sell, give or transfer in any way the property in its entirety, lease the property for a term of less than twenty-five years or otherwise improve the agricultural land to preserve, maintain, operate or continue such land as agricultural land, including but not limited to construction thereon of residences for persons directly incidental to farm operation and buildings for animals, roadside stands and farm markets for sale to the consumer of food products and ornamental plants, facilities for the storing of equipment and products or processing thereof or such other improvements, activities and uses thereon as may be directly or incidentally related to the operation of the agricultural enterprise, as long as the acreage and productivity of arable land for crops is not materially decreased and due consideration is given to the impact of any decrease in acreage or productivity of such arable land upon the total farm operation, except that new construction or modification of an existing farm building necessary to the operation of a farm on prime farmland, as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture, of which the state has purchased development rights shall be limited to not more than five per cent of the total of such prime farmland, (3) the rights of the fee owner to provide for the extraction of gravel or like natural elements to be used on the farm for purposes directly or incidentally related to the operation of the agricultural enterprise or (4) the existing water and mineral rights, exclusive of gravel, of the fee owner;
(e) “Owner” means any person, corporation, limited liability company, partnership, trust, municipal corporation, public utility or any other private or public entity that shall be the fee simple owner of agricultural land or who shall by operation of law have the power to exercise the rights of a fee simple owner;
(f) “Municipality” means any city, town, borough, district, or association with municipal powers;
(g) “Prime farmland” means soils defined by the United States Department of Agriculture as the best suited to producing food, feed, forage, fiber and oilseed crops;
(h) “Restricted agricultural land” means land and the improvements thereon for which development rights are held by the state of Connecticut;
(i) “Restriction” means the encumbrance on development uses placed on restricted lands as a result of the acquisition of development rights by the state of Connecticut;
(j) “Residences” means single-family residential dwellings and any associated on-site septic disposal system or potable well;
(k) “Building” means (1) any permanent structure used for holding animals, (2) roadside stands and farm markets for sale to the consumer of food products and ornamental plants, (3) facilities for the storing of equipment and products or the processing of products, and (4) animal waste storage facilities;
(l) “Arable land” means land currently used for the production of crops or pasture and land considered prime and important farmland soil by the United States Department of Agriculture;
(m) “Gravel or like natural elements” means rounded or angular fragments of rock and associated soil material;
(n) “Economically profitable farm unit” means an acreage of arable land capable of producing a sustained annual gross income of significant value as determined by the commissioner;
(o) “The property in its entirety” means the entire acreage of restricted land without division or subdivision;
(p) “Persons directly incidental to the farm operation” means any person who participates in the farm operation on the restricted land on a full-time basis and any owner of the restricted land regardless of whether or not he participates in the farm operation on a full-time basis.
(P.A. 78-232, S. 2, 11; P.A. 81-151, S. 2, 3; P.A. 82-173, S. 1, 2; 82-472, S. 97, 183; P.A. 88-75, S. 1, 3; P.A. 89-226, S. 2, 6; P.A. 95-79, S. 82, 189; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 146(e), (f); P.A. 04-189, S. 1.)
History: P.A. 81-151 amended Subdiv. (d) so that development rights by definition preclude development that would materially decrease acreage and productivity and is restricted to 5% of prime farmland; P.A. 82-173 amended the definition of development rights to exclude the right of an owner to sell anything but the entire property, thereby prohibiting subdivision by sale; P.A. 82-472 made a technical correction in Subdiv. (d); P.A. 88-75 redefined “development rights” to specifically exclude owner's right to “give or transfer” property in its entirety or to lease property for less than twenty-five-year term and to extract gravel etc. “to be used on the farm” and added Subdivs. (f) to (o) defining “municipality”, “prime farmland”, “restricted agricultural land”, “restriction”, “residences”, “building”, “arable land”, “gravel or like natural elements”, “economically profitable farm unit” and “the property in its entirety”; P.A. 89-226 added Subdiv. (p) defining “persons directly incidental to the farm operation”; P.A. 95-79 redefined “owner” to include a limited liability company, effective May 31, 1995; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 replaced Commissioner and Department of Agriculture with Commissioner and Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-189 repealed Sec. 146 of June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, thereby reversing the merger of the Departments of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective June 1, 2004.
Cited. 194 C. 129; 212 C. 727.