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Skagit County is reviewing what agritourism means to the County’s agricultural community, rural residents, and other stakeholders. Skagit County will explore and analyze agritourism activities in Skagit County to develop a report on the economics of agritourism, a current assessment of County policies, and relevant case studies. The study is anticipated to address the current situation with farm stands and value added activities, agricultural recreation, and options for other types of agritourism, such as potentially allowing food service on farms, wedding venues, temporary event spaces, etc.

Based on feedback from research and policy proposals from County staff, a legislative proposal will be developed for consideration by the Skagit County Planning Commission and Board of County Commissioners. This process will allow the County to propose amendments to the Comprehensive Plan, zoning map, and development regulations, with input from the public and stakeholders, to address agritourism.

The Board of Skagit County Commissioners will hold a public hearing and take possible action regarding an extension of adopted Ordinance #O20240003, an interim ordinance temporarily prohibiting the acceptance of new permits for event venues on Skagit County agricultural land. This public meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. in the Skagit County Commissioners’ Hearing Room at 1800 Continental Place, Mount Vernon, WA 98273. Please see the notice of availability for more information and how to comment. The written comment deadline is Friday, January 3, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. Draft Ordinance- Findings of Fact

Agritourism Code Changes Remanded to the Skagit County Planning Commission

On June 24, 2024, the Skagit County Board of County Commissioners passed Resolution #R20240132 remanding the agritourism code changes recommended by the Planning Commission and the Agricultural Advisory Board back to the Planning Commission for additional work, study, review and refinement, including additional public comment and hearing. The schedule of future public meetings relating to agritourism code changes will be announced on a later date.

Submission Required to Assert Existing Use Rights.

  • May 30, 2025: Deadline to document existing rights by signing a Voluntary Compliance (VCA) agreement per interim ordinance # O20240003. This process must be initiated well ahead of time to ensure completion before the deadline.

 
 

Staff used public input and survey results to develop a preferred policy option and create code language for the Planning Commission to evaluate over the summer. The Planning Commission will host a public hearing in July 2022 to hear additional feedback on the code language, then they will vote on a recommendation to the Board of County Commissioners. Once the recommendation has been finalized, the County Commissioners will review the recommendation and staff analysis to decide on final action for agritourism.

 

After the situation assessment report was released, staff evaluated public response and developed three policy options the County could pursue for agritourism activities. These three options were released in a report in March 2022, with details on which activities would be allowed under each option and the benefits and drawbacks of each policy proposal. Staff hosted multiple public workshops to hear feedback from the public on the three options and released a second survey for additional comments. The public engagement and survey responses were compiled into a report, which was published in June 2022.

 

Skagit County contracted with BERK Consulting to assist with the agritourism study. The situation assessment phase is part of a discovery phase to document current agricultural trends and conditions in Skagit County. County staff evaluated current practices for agritourism activites and contrasted them with case studies from other jurisdictions. Staff also conducted local discussion groups and released a public engagement survey to develop a common understanding of agritourism and the public interest in the direction of the study overall.  The Situation Assessment Report was released in September 2021 and was shared with local stakeholders, such as producers, businesses, and local residents.

To stay up to date on the agritourism study, sign up for updates from the Skagit County Planning & Development Services Department here:
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The Skagit County Planning Commission meets every other Tuesday at 6:00 PM PST. For additional information on participating in a planning commission meeting, please visit: Commenting in a Meeting.

For more information, please contact:
Robby Eckroth, AICP
Senior Planner
Skagit County Planning & Development Services
reckroth@co.skagit.wa.us

 

 

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