Protected Agricultural Zone (PAA) — Isère

Agricultural area the preservation of which is of general interest due either to the quality of its production or to its geographical location and which has been classified as an APA (Protected Agricultural Area). It is a utility bondage of type A9 Classification as ‘protected agricultural area’ (PAA) is enshrined in the 1999 Agricultural Guidance Act (Art 108 amending Article L112-2 of the Rural Code): ‘Agricultural areas the preservation of which is of general interest by reason of the quality of their production or their geographical location may be classified as protected agricultural areas. These are defined by prefectural decree adopted on a proposal or agreement by the municipal council of the municipalities concerned or, where appropriate, on a proposal from the deliberative body of the public institution responsible for local planning or on a proposal from the public institution responsible for territorial coherence scheme after agreement of the municipal council of the municipalities concerned, after having given an opinion from the Chamber of Agriculture, the National Institute of Origin and Quality in the areas of controlled designation of origin and the departmental commission for the guidance of agriculture and the public inquiry carried out in accordance with Chapter III of Title II of Book I of the Environmental Code. Any change in land use or mode of land use which permanently affects the agronomic, organic or economic potential of a protected agricultural area must be submitted to the opinion of the Chamber of Agriculture and the Departmental Agricultural Guidance Commission. In the event of an unfavourable opinion of one of them, the change may be authorised only on the basis of a reasoned decision of the prefect. The change of mode of occupancy shall not be subject to the provisions of the preceding paragraph where it is subject to an authorisation under the Urban Planning Code and where the land is situated within a land use plan made public or approved or an urban planning document in place. 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. NOTE: These provisions shall apply to projects, plans, programmes or other planning documents for which the order for the opening and organisation of 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 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: Law No. 99-574 of 9 July 1999 on agricultural guidance, Title VI (Management of agricultural and forestry areas), 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 areas 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