AR25-010 Staff Decision - Laserfiche WebLink

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7. Primary farm dwellings in an SA zone can be permitted through the options provided in MCC 17.137.030(A). The options depend on whether the dwelling will be located on high-value farmland, or if it will be built in conjunction with a commercial dairy farm, or other otherwise. In this case, the applicant seeks to qualify for a primary farm dwelling through MCC 17.137.030(A)(1): A. Primary Farm Dwellings. A single-family dwelling customarily provided in conjunction with farm use. The dwelling will be considered customarily provided in conjunction with farm use when: 1. It is located on high-value farmland, as defined in MCC 17.137.130(D), and satisfies the following standards: a. There is no dwelling on the subject farm operation on lands zoned EFU, SA, or FT other than seasonal farm worker housing. The term “farm operation” means all lots of parcels of land in the same ownership that are used by the farm operator for farm use; There are currently no dwellings on the subject farm operation lands where the applicant generated the farming income. Additionally, a search of properties owned by the entity Locust Rental I LLC found that the subject parcel is the only parcel owned by the Locust Rental I LLC in the county, meaning this parcel contains the entirety of the farming operation in Marion County. As such, the no parcel in the farming operation contains a dwelling. The criterion is met. b. The farm operator earned on the subject tract in the last two years, three of the last five years, or the average of the best three of the last five years at least $80,000 in gross annual income from the sale of farm products, not including marijuana. In determining gross annual income from the sale of farm products, the cost of purchased livestock shall be deducted from the total gross income attributed to the tract. Only gross income from land owned, not leased or rented, shall be counted; OAR 660-033-0135(4) states: The applicant shall submit to the local government an IRS tax return transcript and anyother information the local jurisdiction may require that demonstrates compliance with the gross farm income requirement. A review of the ownership history for the parcel found that Locust Rental I LLC purchased the parcel in June of 2021, proving the applicant was the legal property owner during the time the income was generated. The applicant provided the 2023 and 2024 Schedule F tax statements for Locust Rental I LLC. The reported principal crop on both forms was nursery and they reported a gross income of at least $80,000 in farm income ($83,100 in 2023, $83,219 in 2024). While these documents demonstrate the applicant made the requisite amount of gross income from farm sales, 2023 aerial imagery in the Marion County GIS system does not show any sign of the claimed nursery activity as of July 2023 (when the imagery was taken). The recently acquired 2025 imagery does show a 0.10-acre portion of the property being utilized as a growing area for potted nursery crops. As such, further evidence was required to show the farm use was on the parcel during the prior years claimed. Imagery obtained from Google Earth from March 16, 2024 shows a roughly 0.11-acre piece of the subject parcel graveled and both imagery submitted by the applicant and a visit to the site by staff confirm that this is the location of the nursery stock. The applicant also submitted pictures from November and December of 2023 showing the nursery stock on the property, proving the stock was in place at that time. Finally, the applicant submitted inventory reports showing the varieties and numbers of nursery plants, as well as the sales receipts with the prices of the units sold to a landscape contracting business. This evidence is sufficient to demonstrate all income shown on the Schedule F is from farm income related to the growing of nursery crops and that the limited area used could sustain that number of plants. The criterion is met. c. The subject tract is currently employed for the farm use that produced the income required in subsection (A)(1)(b) of this section;