CU24-028 Staff Decision - Laserfiche WebLink

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mulch from the applicant. This combination of information is sufficient to show how the commercial activity enhances local farming enterprises. The criterion is met. (c) The agricultural and commercial activities must occur together in the local community to satisfy the statute. The subject property for this proposal is located just outside the Brooks-Hopmere community in an area otherwise surrounded by commercial agriculture operations. As described in criterion b above, the applicants provided statements by four of the agricultural operations that received mulch from the applicant in the past. Three operations were located in Marion County and one in the neighboring Polk County, so they are all located within the central Willamette Valley around Salem. The criterion is met. (d) The products and services provided must be essential to the practice of agriculture. The applicants provided information regarding the uses and benefits of mulch in agricultural operations to show how the service is essential for the practice of agriculture . Such examples were moisture retention, natural weed suppression, and the protection of soil erosion by mitigating the impact of rainfall and runoff. The criterion is met. 8. In addition to the specific criteria above, the proposal must also satisfy the conditional use criteria in MCC 17.136.060(A). Those requirements are: (a) The use will not force a significant change in, or significantly increase the cost of, accepted farm or forest practices on surrounding lands devoted to farm or forest use. Land devoted to farm or forest use does not include farm or forest use on lots or parcels upon which a non-farm or non-forest dwelling has been approved and established, in exception areas approved under ORS 197.732, or in an acknowledged urban growth boundary. The applicants claim that the proposed commercial use would not force a significant change in accepted agricultural practices in the local area because the location is on a portion of the parcel that was not previously dedicated to farming, the traffic impact will be limited as debris will be picked up and dropped off on an as - needed basis, and the use will be confined to the roughly 1.5-acre area identified on the site plan. The applicant also claims the site has been in commercial use for “many years”. While this last claim is not substantiated by aerial imagery even as recent as 2021, the other three claims are generally substantiated by the available imagery and description of the business process in the application. That said, the proposed use as a site for commercial mulch generation brings has the potential to introduce tree diseases or insect pests into the local area that could significantly damage local agricultural operations (such as the hazelnut orchard on the adjacent western property) by acting as an introduction point and breeding ground for diseases and pests on a property where the impacted adjacent farmers cannot apply their fungicides or pesticides to combat these threats . While the level of pest introduction is not simple to predict, the proposed activity is capable of critically damaging the economic viability and force a change in local farming practices through the introduction of new pests or diseases that destroy crops grown in the local area. As such, mitigation measures against this significant threat shall be taken to protect the existing agricultural practices and ensure the proposed use remains compliant with this criterion. Setbacks from neighboring agricultural uses and screening to mitigate the airborne spread of diseases shall be made a condition of approval and the applicant is encouraged to develop a strategy for further mitigation beyond the conditions of this case. (b) Adequate fire protection and other rural services are, or will be, available when the use is established. The Marion County No. 1 fire district provides the subject parcel with fire protection services and provided comments with their requirements for meeting fire safety code. Other rural services such as a well and septic are already present on site and the Marion County Sheriff provides police services to the site. All other necessary rural services are either present or will be available when the use is established. The criterion is met and meeting the requirements of the Marion County No. 1 fire district shall be made a condition of approval.