BEAUFORT -- Beaufort County has partnered with the military to protect about 69 acres next to Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort from unwanted development.

On Monday, the county agreed to pay $311,250 for development rights to the property as part of its land conservation efforts, and to prevent development that could interfere with the air station's mission.

The Department of Defense will reimburse the county $155,625, half the cost of the development easement.

"The goal is compatible land use," said Marine Corps Lt. Col. Patrick Noonan, the air station's community plans and liaison officer. "We just want to permanently ensure compatible land use so we don't end up like Oceana."

Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, Va., faces encroachment problems that have interfered with pilot training.

A federal program started last year permits the Defense Department to partner with other organizations, such as local governments, to buy buffer land or development rights around bases. The land must be used for conservation, not to expand the base, and property owners must agree to sell, Noonan said.

In this case, the military joined forces with the county's land-buying partner, The Trust For Public Land, to purchase property recommended for conservation by the county's Rural and Critical Lands Program as part of a $40 million land-buying program approved by voters in 2000.

The Defense Department-mandated round of military base closures set for next year makes the purchase doubly important, Beaufort County Council Chairman Weston Newton said.

"Efforts to protect and address encroachment are significant to the Pentagon," he said. "The joint acquisition of development rights is the first of its kind in the country.

"This meets two complementary goals," Newton said.

The purchase agreement only allows the land to be used for farming, passive recreational use, silviculture, grazing and the use of natural resources.

The agreement also allows for the construction of a single-family guest house no larger than 1,500 heated square feet, a fish pond no larger than 3 acres, a tennis court for personal use and up to three additional barns no larger than 600 square feet and up to 40 feet in height.

"It gives us an opportunity to maintain the family farm and gives us some benefits from owning the property," said William Winn, director of Beaufort County Emergency Management, who owns the property.

Newton said the amount of independent work that went into the purchase should prevent any negative perceptions about the county buying development rights from a county employee.

The Rural and Critical Lands Program identified the property, the Trust for Public Land negotiated the deal and the property was assessed by an independent third party, Newton said.

Military Enhancement Committee chairman John Payne called the purchase a historic event.

"It definitely prevents encroachment on that piece of property," said Payne, a retired Marine Corps colonel. "We're not only talking the talk, we're walking the walk. We're out there buying development rights to prevent encroachment."

The committee is an off-shoot of the Greater Beaufort Chamber of Commerce working to protect area bases.