AN ACT TO amend the laws governing voluntary agricultural districts to enhance public participation and the development of alternatives for land use decisions impacting lands in such districts.

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

SECTION 1.  G.S. 106‑740 reads as rewritten:
"§ 106‑740.  Public hearings on condemnation and rezoning of farmland.
An ordinance adopted under this Part or Part 3 of this Article shall provide that no State or local public agency or governmental unit may formally initiate any action to condemn any interest in qualifying farmland, or rezone such land, within a voluntary agricultural district under this Part or an enhanced voluntary agricultural district under Part 3 of this Article until such agency has requested the local agricultural advisory board established under G.S. 106‑739 to hold a public hearing on the proposed condemnation or rezoning that conforms to the following requirements:
(1)	Following a public hearing held pursuant to this section, the board shall prepare and submit written findings and a recommendation to the decision‑making body of the agency proposing acquisition.
(2)	The board designated to hold the hearing shall have 45 days after receiving a request under this section to hold the public hearing and submit its findings and recommendations to the agency.
(3)	The agency shall not formally initiate a condemnation or rezoning action until 120 days after the date the local agricultural advisory board submits its findings and recommendations to the agency."
SECTION 2.  This act is effective October 1, 2025, and applies to condemnation or rezoning actions initiated by any State or local public agency or governmental unit on or after that date.
In the General Assembly read three times and ratified this the 12th day of June, 2025.

	s/	 Rachel Hunt
	 President of the Senate

	s/	 Donna McDowell White
	 Presiding Officer of the House of Representatives

	s/	 Josh Stein
	 Governor

Approved 3:02 p.m. this 20th day of June, 2025