This newspaper was correct when it recently advocated for the reauthorization of Hillsborough County's ELAPP (Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection) program. Over the past 20 years this program has been a resounding success as we have wisely leveraged our local dollars with $76 million of state and federal dollars and permanently preserved more than 48,000 acres of irreplaceable Florida wilderness.

The problem is, while we have been busy protecting our pristine rivers, swamps and endangered upland habitats, we continue paving over huge swaths of farmlands and the other open spaces that often abut these wilderness areas. Regardless of our attempts to draw arbitrary urban service area lines, it is clear that if we continue along the current path, our county will soon be 100 percent "built-out" and completely paved over like many other urban counties including Pinellas, Dade and Broward.

Our county is at a crossroads and as a community we are properly debating whether the ELAPP program should be placed back on the ballot in its present form. As with all good programs we should take a close look at ELAPP and consider modifying its mission to reflect current realities. In doing so, we have a unique opportunity to modify ELAPP to also include a "GreenLap" component to preserve open space and help reduce urban sprawl.

First, as noted by our county administrator, we need to modify ELAPP to ensure that in the future we have the funds to be able to properly maintain the land that we have already purchased.

Second, and perhaps most importantly, let's modify ELAPP's mission to allow the county to use these funds to also acquire the development rights to open space and greenspace. We can do this, and preserve farmland, via the voluntary purchase of development rights ("PDR") from farmers and other property owners.

The purchase of development rights has been used as a valuable tool to preserve farmland and open space in dozens of urbanizing areas of the country for decades. For example, ever since 1990, Montgomery County (adjacent to Philadelphia) has preserved almost 7,000 acres of scenic and active farmland through a voluntary PDR program.

This is a win-win for everyone involved as family farmers can continue to produce their products in perpetuity while the entire community is assured that these scenic and productive lands will never be developed for commercial or residential use. Like Montgomery County, Hillsborough County can use a PDR program as a positive tool to curb urban sprawl, while still protecting the property rights of farmers and other landowners.