Hi everyone,
Our project is located into a LEED Neighborhood Development which obtained Stage 1 certification. The Neighborhood Project is going to be developed in phases and this building is the first of 26 buildings to be built.
I have done the full procedure through USDA website to determine if the site is Prime Farmland. The site is located on the west side of Santa Cruz, CA, and the analysis result is: "Farmland of statewide importance".
Just to make sure of this, I did the same procedure in a residencial site nearby (outside the LEED ND area). That place is a completely developed site, full of residential houses, and the result was the same: "Farmland of statewide importance".
It seems like the whole area is Prime Farmland according to the USDA, no matter if there are buildings or not. Is this correct?
In accordance to this procedure I can't claim for SSc1 credit right?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Susann Geithner
PrincipalEmerald Built Environments
1297 thumbs up
December 5, 2012 - 2:40 pm
That's correct. You can't claim the credit, if you build on Prime Farmland regardless if it was previously developed or not. Sorry
Gaston Viau
1 thumbs up
December 5, 2012 - 2:53 pm
Dear Susann, I think I miss-formulated my question, I will try again.
We are not building in Prime Farmland, but in "Farmland of Statewide Importance".
Does "Farmland of statewide importance" account as "prime farmland"?
Thanks again!
Susann Geithner
PrincipalEmerald Built Environments
1297 thumbs up
December 7, 2012 - 3:36 pm
My bad. I should have paid more attention to your question.
Prime Farmland and Farmland of Statewide importance are not the same. Find the definition here http://1.usa.gov/UKzf0t
So you are good to go.