PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners have adopted an Agricultural Accessory Uses ordinance, which will go into effect on Friday.
This ordinance is designed to make it easier and cheaper for farmers to partake in agricultural accessory uses on their farms.
The county defines agricultural accessory use as “a use that directly supports, promotes and is subordinate to a permitted primary agricultural use or agricultural activity on a farm.”
That includes things such as temporary onsite retail stands, onsite retail stores and greenhouses, farmers markets, U-picks, farm tours, work stays and other farm-dependent accessory activities.
The ordinance only applies to farms that are one or more acres.
This is the “first dedicated ordinance that Clallam County has put together related to agriculture accessory uses,” said Holden Fleming, chief deputy director for the Department of Community Development, during a county commissioners’ meeting.
Fleming said the ordinance originated from the desire to have more support and flexibility for the farming community.
“We’ve tried to craft an ordinance that supports the rural character of our community while also supporting the entrepreneurial spirit of our agricultural community,” he said.
Prior to adoption, many of the accessory uses required a conditional use permit (CUP), which is time consuming to acquire, requires a public hearing and costs at minimum $2,425.
Now, farmers are either allowed to participate in these accessory uses outright or through a certificate of compliance, which costs $150 and requires a staff review rather than a public hearing.
Under the ordinance, farmers are allowed to have temporary onsite retail stands outright. Farmers are allowed to have onsite retail stores and onsite greenhouses if they obtain a certificate of compliance; they can operate these facilities from sunrise to 10 p.m. from May to October.
Onsite retail stores are publicly accessible spaces of less than 1,000 square feet. Farms wanting larger onsite retail stores must apply for a CUP.
Onsite greenhouses must sell at least 90 percent agricultural products.
Farmers markets will be allowed for farms of 5 or more acres with a certificate of compliance. Farms less than 5 acres will have to obtain a CUP.
U-picks and farm tours are allowed for farms less than 5 acres with a certificate of compliance. Farms larger than 5 acres do not have to obtain a certificate.
Work stays are prohibited for farms less than 5 acres. Farms larger than 5 acres must obtain a certificate.
Farms less than 10 acres must obtain a CUP for other farm-dependent accessory activities, and farms larger than 10 acres must obtain a certificate of compliance.
Other activities could include things like corn mazes, tractor rides, agricultural demonstrations and more. These activities are restricted to no more than 21 days a year.
The ordinance “gives farmers greater tools to take advantage of agritourism,” Department of Community Development Director Bruce Emery said, “which helps the farms to survive.”
While the ordinance covers a variety of uses, it did not address the use of farms for things such as weddings, camping, wineries, cideries, breweries and distilleries.
Emery said during the commissioners’ meeting that he sees the adoption of this ordinance as the “first step in a two-step process.”
The second part will be the development of the Growth Management Act update to the county’s comprehensive plan.
Emery said that part will “ask these broader questions and have a broader policy discussion to see if additional regulatory freedoms can be integrated into this zoning effort.”
The comprehensive plan update will begin with public outreach meetings and data gathering this fall. Emery estimates that part of the process will take three to six months.
Afterward, they will draft a comprehensive change document and conduct more formalized public meetings. Then they will integrate those ideas into the final product, which they will present to the county commissioners.
During the commissioners’ public comment period, citizens generally expressed their support for the guidelines that had been developed while acknowledging there is more work to be done.
“From my perspective, policymaking work is never done,” Commissioner Mike French said. “[It] is an ongoing process.”
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
