Aug. 31, 2006
Farmers, rural home-based businesses enjoy more flexibility under proposed code changes
Code changes proposed today by King County Executive Ron Sims would make it easier for farmers to make a living on their farms and for rural residents to operate a small home-based business.
The changes were suggested by rural residents and business-owners during an extensive Rural Economic Strategies public process launched last year by Sims. The Rural Economic Strategies, among other ideas, called for more review of county regulations and procedures with the idea of removing unnecessary obstacles to farmers and home-based businesses and thereby improving the rural economy.
"Together, we are mapping out a vision to strengthen the rural economy and preserve a way of life that benefits not only people who live in rural areas, but everyone in King County," Sims said. "Rural residents are not only offering innovative ideas that can make a positive difference, they are providing terrific and necessary feedback on the ideas they feel will not work in their communities.”
For example, Sims said rural residents made it loud and clear they want more flexibility to develop and operate home-based businesses, but that these businesses should be of a size and scale that is compatible with rural residential areas.
“The idea is to strike the proper balance between making it easier to run a home-based business while protecting neighboring property owners from noise, traffic, and other impacts those businesses can sometimes cause,” Sims said.
The proposed code changes would largely mean less restrictive permitting processes for certain uses at rural home and farm businesses. They would allow more opportunities for farmers to sell directly to customers and allow for uses such as more space for making and selling products, more farm workers to reside on the farm, and more employees to work at a home-based business. Forest thinning, animal specialty services such as dog day care facilities, wineries and breweries, and preservation of historic structures are among a long list of topics addressed by the code changes.
The Rural Economic Strategies initiative is the result of a year-long public process involving rural residents, foresters, business owners and rural stakeholder groups. King County's Office of Business Relations and Economic Development worked closely with rural Unincorporated Area Councils, rural chambers of commerce, the King County Agriculture Commission and Rural Forestry Commission to identify issues of importance to them.
Sims said revisiting codes for farm businesses is overdue.
"Agriculture in King County has changed dramatically in the last 50 years and even in the last decade," Sims said. "Today there is a trend toward more niche markets and opportunities for value-added products – such as jams and jellies, rather than whole berries. We need to give farmers the tools they need to make this transition."
Wade Bennett, of Rockridge Orchards and Bamboo Groves, echoes this sentiment.
“Executive Sims and his administration recognize that the rural landscape in the county is made up of resource lands and these resource lands are businesses and contribute to the economic base of the county,” he said. “Resource lands are in fact land factories that process and produce food. I feel the resource-based ordinance is on the right track. Without the flexibility provided by these proposed changes, farmers will not be able to afford to make a living with their land factory, they will move elsewhere and the resource land will turn into a bedroom community. Both the State Growth Management Act and the King County Comprehensive Plan call for the maintenance of these resource lands and that is what this ordinance is attempting to do.”
Among the code changes proposed are more flexible agricultural processing standards that will make it easier for farmers to add value to their products and provide greater opportunity for them to sell products directly to the consumer. Sims said he wants to shift more uses away from the conditional use permit process to being outright permitted uses, when such uses are compatible and allow resource land owners to add value to their business.
Sims’ proposed changes include incentives to protect King County designated historic buildings, including barns, to encourage sales and processing by eliminating the size limits on floor area devoted to in these buildings.
The code changes are encompassed in two proposals that Sims has submitted to the Metropolitan King County Council for approval. One is an ordinance that deals with resource-based activities and animal care, while the second proposes amendments to an ordinance already under review by the council that addresses home occupations and home industries.
For more details contact Julia Larson, at 206-296-1062, or visit the Rural Economic Strategies Web site. King County also has a new Web site that highlights the many services that are available to rural residents.