Staff Recommendation - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

6 narrow. It is not possible to turn around even a small vehicle without utilizing one of the driveways. Transporting tractors and other farm equipment would be difficult, cost-prohibitive, and the possibility of non-farm conflict is particularly high due to the narrow roadway and level of development in the area. There are two homesites directly south of the subject parcel. One dwelling is less than 50-feet away, and the other is just under 110-feet away, from the southern property line. The applicant representative attests that this proximity would make for difficult management of commonly applied farm related chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and fertilizers. The applicant representative suggests the distance of the subject parcel from other commercial farm operations, the difficult access, and amount of the rural residential development in the area, make for a parcel that would not be considered for addition to any nearby farm operations. This criterion is specific in stating that size and economic potential are not factors in determining impracticability of a parcel to be farmed. While none of the extraordinary physical limitations listed in the criterion are present on this parcel, there are physical barriers that separate the subject lot from agricultural land. The rural residential uses that surround the subject parcel separate it from nearby commercial agricultural uses. The unique combination of issues regarding access to water, access to the parcel itself by farm equipment, and rural residential development in this area create an undue hardship for this parcel to be managed for farm use. Staff agrees with the applicant representative’s assertion that the unique combination of factors inherent in the location of the parcel creates a physical barrier rendering farm use impracticable. The criterion is met. ii. The use will not force a significant change in or significantly increase the cost of farm or forest practices on surrounding lands devoted to farm or forest use; and There are no directly adjacent commercial agricultural parcels. There are small farms directly north (12-acres) and east (6-acres) of the subject parcel with pasture for livestock on the northern parcel. The primary use of surrounding parcels is for rural residential purposes. The existence of rural residences, and dense suburban development with the UGB, directly adjacent to these farm properties suggests that the proposed additional rural residence will not change or significantly increase the cost of the farm practices occurring. The AR zoned parcels to the west, under the same ownership as the subject parcel, are in use for timber production in conjunction with the subject parcel. The AR allows for a single-family dwelling to be developed on each of the parcels. These parcels are 1.5-acres, and it is reasonable to assume that economic incentive will drive residential development after the timber is harvested. Therefore, it is not the development of the subject parcel that would force a