Protected agricultural area (Savoie)

Classification as a ‘protected agricultural zone’ (PAZ) is laid down in the 1999 Agricultural Guidance Law (Article 108 amending Article L112-2 of the Rural Code): ‘Agricultural areas whose preservation is of general interest either because of the quality of their production or because of their geographical location may be classified as protected agricultural areas. These are delimited by prefectural decree taken on a proposal or after agreement of the municipal council of the municipalities concerned or, where appropriate, on a proposal of the deliberative body of the public institution competent in matters of local urban planning or on a proposal of the public institution competent in matters of territorial coherence after agreement of the municipal council of the municipalities concerned, after opinion of the Chamber of Agriculture, the National Institute of Origin and Quality in the areas of controlled designation of origin and the departmental commission of orientation of agriculture and public inquiry carried out in accordance with Chapter III of Title II of Book I of the Environmental Code.The existence of small wooded parcels within such an area does not preclude this delimitation. Any change in the use or method of land use that permanently alters the agronomic, biological or economic potential of a protected agricultural area must be submitted for the opinion of the Chamber of Agriculture and the Departmental Commission for Agricultural Guidance. In the event of an unfavourable opinion by one of them, the change may be authorised only on the basis of a reasoned decision by the prefect. The change of mode of occupancy is not subject to the provisions of the preceding paragraph when it is subject to an authorization under the Planning Code and when the land is located within a land use plan made public or approved or a planning document in lieu thereof. The delimitation of protected agricultural areas is annexed to the land use plan under the conditions laid down in Article L. 126-1 of the Urban Planning Code. The detailed rules for the application of this article shall be laid down by decree in the Council of State.NOTA: These provisions apply to projects, plans, programmes or other planning documents for which the order opening and organizing the public inquiry is published from the first day of the sixth month after the publication of the decree in the Council of State provided for in Article L. 123-19 of the Environmental Code."The ZAP makes it possible to confirm the long-term agricultural vocation of a space by the establishment of a public utility easement annexed to the PLU (servitudes of type A9). It is thus enforceable against successive revisions of urban planning documents.Regulatory references: - Legislative basis: Act No. 99-574 of 9 July 1999 on agricultural guidance, Title VI (Management of the agricultural and forestry area), Article 108; Article L112-2 of the Rural Code.- Regulatory basis: Decree No 2001-244 of 20 March 2001 on the allocation of agricultural and forestry land and amending the Rural Code and the Urban Planning Code under section 2: protected agricultural areas - Articles R112-1-4 to R112-1-10 of the Rural Code