Zoning Laws, Conservation Easements, and the Right to Your Land

I believe so strongly that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) pursue the path to confiscate land from American landowners and farmers under the guise of zoning laws, environmental preservation, and eminent domain that I wrote about Martha’s Plight and her Liberty Farm in my book, “U.N. Agenda 21: Environmental Piracy.” http://www.amazon.com/U-N-Agenda-21-Environmental-ebook/dp/B009WC6JXO/ref=tmm_kin_title_0

Martha’s 70 acre farm is located in Fauquier County, a rural community not far from Washington, D.C. The rich soil is ideal for growing grapes and agriculture in general. Martha bought her farm with an agricultural conservation easement.

A conservation easement is a contract between a private property owner and a land trust. Conservation easements are signed because some people want to protect their property from unwanted development in the future but they also want to retain ownership of the land. The donation of an easement to a land trust may give financial advantage to the donor.  The conservation easement is passed on to any future owners of that land.

Martha Boneta repaired the historical barn, built an apiary, harvested hay, grew herbs, and rescued 165 animals, sold chicken, duck, turkey, emu eggs, candles made from beeswax, birdhouses, and fiber from llamas and alpacas. Although holding a business license, she was harassed, the license was not renewed, and a trench was dug to prevent parking on her property because it obscured the view shed.

Piedmont Environmental Council decided to rezone her property for alleged “violations” found during unannounced inspections. They settled the law suit in 2011.

The Fauquier County Board of Supervisors changed the zoning laws to ban Martha’s sale of fruits, vegetables, beverages, and other crafts in her farm store. The supervisors also passed an ordinance to force wineries in the area to close at 6 p.m. and to prohibit the sale of food unless the wineries obtained special permits from the zoning administrator.

Martha put a lot of hard work to breathe life into the previously abandoned property. It was her life-long dream to farm. She was not going to give up that easily. She became a property rights advocate and activist in Virginia, speaking at every venue and opportunity against the insidious U.N. Agenda 21, enabled at the local level by unscrupulous supervisors who had bought into the Agenda 21 environmental land grab.

The “visioning committee consensus” of ICLEI was nothing more than the wishes of a few global elites, telling each community across the country what was best for their citizens in terms of land and water use, keeping the environment as pristine and wild as possible, without the “destructive” encroachment of humans. As Americans became more aware of their true internationalist intent, ICLEI changed its name to Local Governments for Sustainability.

The International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) is a conglomerate of national, regional, and local government associations who promote “sustainable development” and protection of the environment because of the man-made global warming that does not exist. The focus is to limit economic and agricultural development in developed countries, a forced sustainable de-growth through EPA regulations and local board of supervisors’ zoning laws, and “regionalism” at the federal level, intruding on every facet of human life. http://www.icleiusa.org/

A lot of Virginians testified in support of HB1430 (The Boneta Bill), The Right to Farm Act, which passed the House of Delegates 77-22 in February 2013 but was blocked by the Senate Agricultural Committee by a vote of 11-4. Delegate Scott Lingamfelter promised to reintroduce the bill next year.

Martha’s source of trouble at the local level during 2009-2011 was Fauquier County zoning supervisor Peggy Richardson, who was IRS commissioner under President Bill Clinton.

It must have been absolute coincidence that Martha’s tax returns for 2010 and 2011 were audited by the IRS. This was the timeframe when her farm operations were dissected and her legal battles ensued. Martha Boneta believes that it was a “coordinated effort” to confiscate her farm through rezoning.

Zoning supervisor Richardson told TheWatchdog.org, “I could understand, given the external climate, that people might think there is something amiss. I think that’s a stretch, but I understand why people might feel this way. Coincidences do happen.” http://watchdog.org/91068/former-irs-commissioner-says-tax-audit-of-virginia-farmer-a-coincidence/

Martha wrote, “IRS came with a camera to the farm but I do not know what was photographed.  The IRS agent watched me put freshly harvested eggs into cartons and feed emus. Asked me about "boarding" farm caretakers -- very odd and unusual especially since ‘boarding’ a farm caretaker is identical to what PEC (Piedmont Environmental Council) complained and sued me over. Particularly odd since there is nothing in my (tax) return that has anything to do with ‘boarding’ labor for example.”

Joseph Farah writes that Margaret “Peggy” Richardson “was in charge when I exposed Clinton’s political abuse of the IRS. She was forced to resign and now she is on the Piedmont Environmental Council.”

http://www.wnd.com/2013/06/i-hate-coincidences/#8L0Ov7YSR5UiJVYB.99

If you think Martha Boneta’s case is an isolated incident of “conservation easement,” think again. Take for instance the case in Alameda County, California. The deceptively named Measure D, “Save Agriculture and Open Space Lands Initiative,” pushed by Oakland mayor Jerry Brown and the Sierra Club passed in November 2000. Most ranchers had no idea what they voted for - the restrictive use of thousands of acres of private land by the county.

Property owners lived on the land but could not make any changes or improvements to it without prior approval by the Board of Supervisors. Ranchers paid taxes on 100 percent of the land but could only develop 2 percent.

Chuck Moore, owner of Graceland Equestrian Center, petitioned during a hearing on January 8, 2013, to expand a covered area on his property to store hay for his horses.

The Sierra Club objected by stating that “The Board has a free hand to further restrict the use of land but it does not have a free hand to loosen the restrictions measuredly imposed on the development and use of land.” They insisted that “open space must be saved,” which begs the question, “Saved from what? Horses?”

The Supervisor, seeking to avoid litigation, suggested an insane solution. The rancher should purchase more property and donate it to the Sierra Club as “open space.”

The narrator asked pointedly, “Are we a nation that respects private property and individual rights or are we slaves to the government and special interest groups like the Sierra Club?”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYMmePre-VI

This question can be easily answered by perusing the Draft International Covenant on Environment and Development (DICED). It is the Environmental Constitution of Global Governance. The Draft Covenant’s 79 articles, described in great detail in 242 pages, take Sustainable Development principles described in U.N. Agenda 21 and transform them into global law, which supersedes all constitutions including the U.S. Constitution. https://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20//content/documents/IUCN+Intl+Covenant+on+Env+and+Dev+EPLP-031-rev3.pdf&embedded=true

Martha Boneta’s and Chuck Moore’s battles are two examples of thousands across the country who are fighting their local zoning czars for economic freedom, the use of their land, property rights free of intrusive, photographed, unauthorized, and illegal, often in the middle of the night land and home inspections, and the freedom to engage in unencumbered agricultural activities from environmental groups funded by wealthy globalists who would rather see humans disappear or moved into government approved urban ghettoes or zones where they can be better controlled and corralled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The War against U.N. Agenda 21 Got Hotter

The war against U.N. Agenda 21 just got hotter in Virginia. Thinking Americans understand now what U.N. Agenda 21 is and are not backing down from fighting the anti-American, anti-prosperity, wealth redistribution scheme of the United Nations against our way of life.

U.N. has deemed commercial agriculture unsustainable and has used taxpayer dollars and local supervisors to re-zone, re-shape, and prohibit land use for local agriculture or building that is not approved by their bio-diversity plan of limiting human habitation – all in the name of saving the planet.

Our planet does not need saving, Mother Earth is doing fine. The problem lies with progressive humans in positions of power who want to control everything we do while they line their pockets with our hard-earned taxpayer dollars.

Unfair regulatory actions against Martha Boneta, a farmer in Fauquier County, Virginia, “violate fundamental rights and unfairly restrict her property rights.” Delegate L. Scott Lingamfelter (R-Woodbridge/31^st district) plans to strengthen Virginia’s Right to Farm Act and to “protect farmers against future encroachments by local government.”

Delegate Lingamfelter, who represents four of the Fauquier County’s 20 voting precincts, is planning a press conference to discuss his proposed legislation on January 8, 2013 in Richmond, Virginia. Two prominent property rights advocates will be in attendance, Joel Salatin and Mark Fitzgibbons.

“Martha Boneta’s rights have been wrongly challenged. I am bringing legislation in the 2013 session of the General Assembly to improve the Right to Farm Act here in Virginia, so small farmers like Martha will enjoy fully their property rights. It’s not about demonizing anyone in this controversy. It’s about standing by property rights and our Founder’s vision.”

Local Governments for Sustainability, formerly known as ICLEI, the International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives has been quite successful since 1992, when U.N. Agenda 21 was adopted, in infiltrating and recruiting local governments to do their bidding. When Americans exposed their nefarious plans, they have changed their name. Their main goal is to control zoning and land use.

Martha Boneta’s plight and subsequent lawsuit stemmed from a planned birthday party for eight ten-year olds on her farm. County officials notified her that she should have obtained a prior permit for hosting this party and thus would be fined $5,000 for failing to abide by the local ordinance. She was charged with two additional violations of up to $5,000 each, one for advertising a pumpkin carving and another for operating a small shop on her property from which Martha sold her fresh produce and homemade crafts. The county made these allegations without ever setting foot on her farm. The Fauquier county board of zoning appeals upheld the zoning administrator’s decision that Boneta held “temporary and/or special events without the required county approvals.”

I have written about Martha’s plight in my book, “U.N. Agenda 21: Environmental Piracy.” Martha purchased a ruined and abandoned farm under an agricultural conservation easement. Nothing in the bill of sale was mentioned that she could not farm. A lot of hard work, sweat, and tears went into breathing life into this property. She never dreamed that stumbling blocks will be placed in front of her along the way by the very Americans who are supposed to protect our freedoms.

She got a business license. She built an apiary, harvested hay, grew herbs, and rescued 165 animals, sold chicken, duck, turkey, emu eggs, candles made from beeswax, birdhouses, and fiber from llamas and alpacas.

First, she was told she could not cut grass on her property. Then she had to fence in 20 acres for two years because it was considered “hallowed ground,” although nobody died there during the Civil War, it was just an encampment area. By this rule, the whole state of Virginia should be cordoned off to any kind of use due to its many battlefields and movements of troops across the state. After two years, a “clerical error” was declared and Martha could use her land, no reimbursement for loss of property or revenue.

A trench was dug to prevent parking on her property because it might obscure the view shed. Then came the infamous pumpkin carving party that actually never took place, it was cancelled. Yet the harassment from the county and the moneyed environmentalists never stopped.  These people prefer and define farming as penny-loafer farming, running a few horses on lush endless green grass fields, nothing to grow that people would need.

The battle did not stop with Martha. Thirteen vintners filed lawsuits against the same county for not being allowed to serve wine on their premises after 6 p.m., another Fauquier County restriction passed to please one vintner who chose to close early. Why leave things alone? Force everyone to do the same, control what everyone else does.

Americans are waking up when they run into legal battles at the state and local levels involving zoning issues driven by one ultimate goal, global governance. U.N. Agenda 21 “soft law” document is not legally binding per se but morally obligatory. Unfortunately, so many of its 40 chapters of rules have already been written into law within other laws passed by Congress and they provide specific rules and regulations about local organizations and their practices, limiting everyone’s behavior and freedom, individuals and organizations alike. Add zoning ordinances passed by local and state governments and you have a recipe for disaster, total control of what you do with your own property.