The Macomb Agricultural Purchase of Development Rights Committee (MAPDR) is comprised of members from Macomb County’s six northern agricultural townships. The committee was formed via an intergovernmental agreement between the following communities: Armada Township, Bruce Township Lenox Township, Ray Township, Richmond Township and Washington Township. MAPDR’s mission is to preserve farmland in Macomb County through participation in the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s Purchase of Development Rights grant program.
About the program
The Macomb Agricultural Purchase of Development Rights Committee was formed as an inter-local agreement (under Urban Cooperation Act of 1967) between the county’s six northern agricultural townships of Armada, Bruce, Lenox, Ray, Richmond and Washington. The committee consists of two appointees from the county as well as two from each of the five communities and work in conjunction with the Macomb County Department of Planning and Economic Development, the Michigan State University Cooperative Extension Service and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development.
What is Purchase of Development Rights? Very simply stated, a PDR program allows a landowner the option (a voluntary program) to preserve his/her property as farmland in perpetuity. In such a program, a landowner is paid the fair market value for the development rights (the difference between the development value and the agricultural value) of his/her property and an easement is then placed on the property that prohibits and future residential, commercial or industrial uses from being built on the land. The landowner may further develop the property for agricultural or personal needs. The property may also be sold but the classification of “agricultural” stays attached to the property.
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