1096                              LAWS OF MARYLAND                       [CH. 433

(3) Lands purchased or otherwise conveyed after July 1, 1969, or

lands that are not actively farmed may be assessed on the basis of

agricultural use only after the owner has submitted a request for

each assessment to the county supervisors of assessments, including
a statement of planned use of the land.

(4) The General Assembly hereby declares it to be in the general
public interest that farming be fostered and encouraged in order to
maintain a readily available source of food and dairy products close
to the metropolitan areas of the State, to encourage the preservation
of open space as an amenity necessary to human welfare and happi-

ness, and to prevent the forced conversion of such open space to

more intensive uses as a result of economic pressures caused by the
assessment of land at a rate or level incompatible with the practical
use of such land for farming. The State Department of Assessments
and Taxation shall establish criteria for the purposes of determining
whether lands which appear to be actively devoted to farm or agri-

cultural use are in fact bona fide farms and qualify for assessment

under this subsection. Such criteria shall be promulgated in rules
and regulations which shall include, but shall not be limited to, the

following:

[(1)] (i) Zoning applicable to the land.

        [(2)] (ii) Present and past use of the land including land under

the soil bank provisions of the Agricultural Stabilization Act of the
United States Government.

[(3)] (iii) Productivity of the land including timberlands and
lands used for reforestation.

     [(4) The ratio of farm or agricultural use as against other uses

of the land.]

(1) LANDS WHICH ARE ACTIVELY DEVOTED TO FARM
OR AGRICULTURAL USE SHALL BE ASSESSED ON THE BASIS
OF SUCH USE, AND SHALL NOT BE ASSESSED AS IF SUB-
DIVIDED, IT BEING THE INTENT OF THE GENERAL AS-
SEMBLY THAT THE ASSESSMENT OF FARM LAND SHALL
BE MAINTAINED AT LEVELS COMPATIBLE WITH THE CON-
TINUED USE OF SUCH LAND FOR FARMING AND SHALL
NOT BE ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY NEIGHBORING LAND
USES OF A MORE INTENSIVE NATURE. THE GENERAL
ASSEMBLY HEREBY DECLARES IT TO BE IN THE GENERAL
PUBLIC INTEREST THAT FARMING BE FOSTERED AND
ENCOURAGED IN ORDER TO MAINTAIN A READILY AVAIL-
ABLE SOURCE OF FOOD AND DAIRY PRODUCTS CLOSE TO
THE METROPOLITAN AREAS OF THE STATE, TO ENCOUR-
AGE THE PRESERVATION OF OPEN SPACE AS AN AMENITY
NECESSARY TO HUMAN WELFARE AND HAPPINESS, AND
TO PREVENT THE FORCED CONVERSION OF SUCH OPEN
SPACE TO MORE INTENSIVE USES AS A RESULT OF ECO-
NOMIC PRESSURES CAUSED BY THE ASSESSMENT OF
LAND AT A RATE OR LEVEL INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE
PRACTICAL USE OF SUCH LAND FOR FARMING. THE STATE
DEPARTMENT OF ASSESSMENTS AND TAXATION SHALL
ESTABLISH CRITERIA FOR THE PURPOSE OF DETERMIN-
ING WHETHER LANDS WHICH APPEAR TO BE ACTIVELY
DEVOTED TO FARM OR AGRICULTURAL USE ARE IN FACT
BONA FIDE FARMS AND QUALIFY FOR ASSESSMENT