PORT ANGELES – Clallam County is moving forward with a new agricultural accessory use ordinance.
This week, the planning commission will look at a draft of the ordinance that will make some changes for how certain small farms can operate.
Community Development Director Bruce Emery says the changes should make it easier for farms to operate retail shops, something that had required an expensive conditional use permit process.
“Really, the only avenue for people to fully implement these was to force them to go through a conditional use permit process. You know, it cost three thousand dollars out of the chute and when you’re an agricultural operation hanging on by your fingertips that alone can be a deterrent,” Emery told Newsradio KONP.
Emery says larger venues looking to do things such as become a wedding venue would probably still need to get a conditional use permit.
Emery says the county needs to update its rules to better reflect some statewide goals too.
“Under the comprehensive plan, and even broader under the state law, we were to have policies that assisted agricultural operations in implementing and taking advantage of agritourism. Other types of economic diversity, if you will, of their agricultural operations as ways of monetizing their agricultural operation to give it more sustainability to make it more viable,” said Emery
And as far as things like festivals, Emery hopes organizers of events like the Lavender Festival would encourage individual farms to come under their master festival permit for the special events.
Emery says the proposed new ordinance came after a number of meetings held with stakeholders throughout the county over the past few months. He’s hoping the new rules could be in place before the busy summer season for the farms.