Whatcom County to Protect More Rural Land!
To try to protect county farmland in a more comprehensive way, the Planning and Development Services office has completed a Rural Land Study that could come to the Whatcom County Council Feb. 27.
The study identifies nine rural areas totaling just over 22,800 acres that "may require additional protection to ensure long-term agricultural viability," according to a written summary. The Rural Land Study was approved on Jan. 31 by the county's Agricultural Advisory Committee, composed mostly of farmers meeting monthly to review farm-related issues for county decision-makers.
Member Ken Schilke, a former dairyman and berry grower, said he supports what the county is trying to do. But it's not so much saving agriculture as saving open spaces, he added.
Rapid residential development of agricultural and forest land in the county is an impetus for the study, said senior planner Kraig Olason. Also, the County Council itself has given planning priority to the protection of resource lands. Using the study, Olason said, the county could develop policies that reduce development density, reduce conversion and fragmentation of farmland, and protect open space from subdivision.
The nine areas are:
• 4,539 acres, Guide and Aldrich roads, both Rural 5 Acre and Rural 10 Acre zoning.
• 3,133 acres,Ten Mile Road, R10A.
• 3,607 acres, Loomis Trail, R5A.
• 2,707 acres, Custer, R10A.
• 3,323 acres, Harksell Road, R5A.
• 2,090 acres, East Badger Road, R10A.
• 1,061 acres, Minaker Road, R10A.
• 573 acres, Lawrence Road, R5A.
• 1,762 acres, Nooksack South Fork, R5A and R10A.
At the January meeting, the advisory committee removed a tenth 2,304-acre area along South Pass Road and modified the boundary lines of the Minaker and Lawrence Road ones.
For several years, county leaders have set 100,000 acres as the minimum "critical mass" amount of land needed to ensure agricultural viability. Much north county land is zoned Agricultural with more stringent built-in protections, but a Rural zone does not preserve as well for agricultural uses.
A mechanism known as the Agricultural Protection Overlay can be applied parcel by parcel, based mostly on type of soils, but the Rural Land Study report calls the effect "random and highly scattered."
This week Tuesday, the County Council's Natural Resources Committee was scheduled to have a discussion of the agriculture and forestry land base, but the current study was not specifically mentioned on the agenda.
The report calls generally for "heightened agricultural protection measures" for the areas identified.
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