agriculture – All Things Lake Chelan

Proposal for Ag-Tourism code changes to allow for STRs

by Richard Uhlhorn

“We are trying to preserve farm-lands and keep the area rural,” Chelan Planning Director John Ajax told a Chelan City Council Workshop on Tuesday, September 3

**John Ajax – Community Development Director**

Ajax and the Chelan Planning Commission have been struggling to come up with a change to the City’s existing Short Term Rental Code that would help keep the 400 acres of existing farmland in agriculture and maybe help create new agriculture.

**Preserving agriculture in Chelan’s Special Use Districts to help keep the rural feel and cultural heritage is high on Chelan’s list of projects.**

The change would provide options for property owners and growers to keep agriculture in place while supplementing their income with Short Term Rentals in Chelan’s Special Use District’s (SUD).

SUDs are designed to support and enhance agricultural operations; allow low impact educational and commercial uses for tourists that complements agriculture while providing an opportunity for lower density residential housing developments.

Proposed changes in the code would provide property owners and growers one STR on a minimum 2.5 acre lot with 1.25 acres dedicated to agriculture. The code’s criteria would require $1,000 profit after two years of operation.

Property owners would be allowed a single family home and one accessory dwelling unit (ADU) which can be attached or detached and can be up to 1,200 sq. ft. Both can be used as STRs.

This code change, if adopted would enhance agriculture tourism and promote small scale farming which would hopefully help preserve farms and potentially develop future farmers. It would also remove the Homestay Unit provisions of the code.

The proposal, if adopted, would help maintain a rural landscape and support the City’s goals of trying to preserve ag land and the fast disappearing rural landscape. It is hoped that keeping 1.25 acres in agriculture would help maintain Chelan’s agricultural roots and scenic open spaces while giving the land owner an opportunity to supplement the property owner’s income.

**Much of the orchard land that used to exist in Chelan’s Special Use Districts has already disappeared.**

Discussion:
Councilman Tim Hollingsworth noted that farmers are struggling with increased costs, regulations and low revenue returns. “I would like to see the revenues that STR’s bring in.” Hollingsworth said some incentives need to be built into the code.

Mayor McCardle remarked, “What incentives do we have… we don’t have kids taking over the farms.” Hollingsworth replied that vacation rentals might be incentive enough.

Ajax said, “It’s tough finding that balance when land is going for $310,000 per acre. It’s very hard when an orchard doesn’t make a profit.” Hollingsworth replied that he thinks the City is on the right track.

Conclusion:
If the code revisions are adopted, will they help keep the “Cultural Agriculture Heritage” alive in the Chelan Special Use Districts or will farmers make the hard decisions to tear the orchards out and sell their property at a premium price? Only time will tell.

Agritourism is probably dead in Chelan… not the valley!

The rolling hills of the Lake Chelan Valley used to be full of apple orchards. Today, as growers fail due to increasing growing costs, regulations and other forces, the orchards are taken out and replaced with subdivisions, vineyards and wineries.

by Richard Uhlhorn

AGRITOURISM
“The apple industry has been in trouble in the Lake Chelan Valley for the past several years,” said real estate broker, Bob Knauss of New Horizon’s Real Estate. “The problem is that everyone is getting a paycheck except for the grower.”

Several growers in the Manson Project that I’ve talked to have either received a bill from their warehouse or just haven’t made any money from their crops over the past several years.

All of this can be attributed to rising labor costs, declining returns on investment, more regulations like overtime requirement for ag. workers, and a declining environment for small scale operations.

This raises the obvious question; Is farming, as in growing apples, sustainable in the Lake Chelan Valley and can agritourism be the savoir of what remains of what once was one of the World’s best apple growing regions? The answer is probably not!

The City of Chelan has been struggling to update its Agritourism Code to allow growers to remain in business.

The entire subject of Chelan’s agritourism code came up when developer Tim McDonald’s Bluewater Terrace application to develop 20 homestays, an event center and winery with production facilities on family property utilizing the City’s current agritourism code.

McDonald, who claims that he was led to believe over the past seven years that his application would be approved had the rug pulled out from under him when the Chelan County Hearing Examiner ruled that his 20-homestay proposal on his application would not be allowed, but that he would be allowed to construct his winery and event center.

The proposed 20 homestay units was the monetary grease that would allow McDonald to move forward with the project. However, the old orchard land which was annexed into the City as a potential residential subdivision has no current agriculture on it. McDonald wanted to plant five acres of grapes to meet the agritourism code.

In meetings that has included the public, Planning Commission and City Council, John Ajax, current Community Development Director, has been seeking input to help rewrite the agritourism code in hopes of retaining agriculture in the City.

The input has not been helpful. Having discussed the issue with several old orchardists, one current grower, a Planning Commissioner, a past City Councilmember and John Ajax, himself, a code change allowing a more agreeable code to help preserve orchards is probably a non-starter to helping preserve small orchard plots, particularly when the land, according to Olson is much more valuable as real estate.

The retired growers, Mark Gores and Harold Schell, both stated that it costs upwards of $250+ per bin of apples delivered to a warehouse. If the variety being delivered is not making money, the grower comes away from a year of expenses without anything in his/her pocket.

The reality is that within the confines of the City and UGA, there are only 300 acres of orchard left and depending on what variety the grower is producing, these orchards may disappear in favor of the real estate value of the land.

Regardless of what the Planning Department does, they have until the Comprehensive Plan update to consider killing it, writing a new code for agritourism, or just leaving the current code alone.

City Planning Department struggling with Agri-Tourism issue

by Richard Uhlhorn

On Wednesday, April 17, Community Development Director John Ajax brought the Agri-Tourism issue to the Chelan Planning Commission for discussion and recommendations prior to amending the City’s current code and policies surrounding the issue.

**Community Development Director John Ajax asked the Chelan Planning Commission for some direction on potential changes to the City’s current Agri-tourism code.**

**Planning Commission Chairman**
**Joe Collins**

Ajax stated that the discussion would be a continuation of the commission’s previous discussion. “I’m hoping you will weigh in on this,” Ajax said. He added that both Tim McDonald and Brian Patterson were on hand to discuss ag-tourism.

At issue is what defines ag-tourism within the City and its Urban Growth Area (UGA). McDonald had a portion of his Bluewater Terrace development application denied by the Chelan County Hearing Examiner. His application included development of a winery, an event center and for up to 120 vehicles and 20 homestay units. To comply with the City’s current code he would plant five acres of grapes to fulfill the agricultural aspect of the application. The Hearing Examiner denied the homestay units but approved the winery and event center.

Originally, ag-tourism was designed to provide orchardists a method to offer a homestay to help offset some of the costs of operating a working farm so it could remain in agriculture.

Ajax explained that the 2014 ag-tourism policy “doesn’t take into account someone wanting to start a working farm.

Currently the City now has only 160 acres in orchard plus another 69.2 acres in the Urban Growth area. “It is very clear that agriculture operations are being removed and the land is selling for residential development,” said Ajax. Conversely, the City and UGA have a total of 72.7 acres of vineyards.

Tim McDonald, whose Bluewater Terrace application was only partially approved by the Hearing Examiner, told the Planning Commission that, “We’ve been at this for seven years and doing everything we were told and got the rug pulled out from under us. We are asking for a CODE correction.”

McDonald went on to say that his family has been trying to do something productive with the property for 20 years. “We’ve done exactly what we were told to do. This is a financial hardship for our family.”

Brian Patterson, in opposition to McDonald’s wishes said, “All I can say is if the City allows multiple units, it will proliferate in the Valley.” He suggested a ratio of 5 to 10 acres of agriculture for every homestay unit allowed.

John Ajax stated that Chelan is a unique place. “We need to find a balance for the owner and public interest. What we are looking for is largely around homestays with minimum acreage. How much agriculture is needed?”

A code amendment that satisfies both the public, private land owners and developers is a tough one to accomplish and Ajax is struggling with the options. His hope is that the Planning Commission will come forth with a recommendation to help him make a decision to present to the City Council.

**Michael O’Neal’s residence is next to the proposed Bluewater Terrace development and is opposed for a number of reasons.**

Agritourism lacks definition – From a Capital Press article:
There’s no concrete definition of agritourism, complicating matters, as people mean widely different things.

“This creates loopholes, imprecise standards for permit applications and uncertainty for farmers and decision makers alike,” states a report by 1000 Friends of Oregon who are trying to get Oregon’s legislature to write a concise code for agri-tourism.