FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Commissioners to Consider Remand Resolution for Planning Commissioner Agritourism Proposal
The Skagit County Commissioners will consider a resolution to remand the Planning Commission agritourism proposal on Monday, June 24th, at 2:30 p.m. If the resolution is approved, the proposal recommended by the Planning Commission to the Board of County Commissioners on December 12, 2023, would be remanded back to the Planning Commission for further study and evaluation. The proposed resolution can be viewed on our agritourism project webpage below:
DRAFT Board of County Commissioners Agritourism Remand Resolution
The remand resolution is proposed in response to feedback the County Commissioners have received from local businesses and farms, community comments, and code enforcement staff. The resolution includes specific direction from the Commissioners to the Planning Commission to guide additional study and consideration.
The public may provide public comment by either joining the meeting in-person in the Commissioner’s Hearing Room at 1800 Continental Place, Mount Vernon, or via Zoom. Links to the meeting are available on the Commissioner’s webpage below. Please note, if you watch the hearing via TV21 you will not be able to provide comment.
https://skagitcounty.net/Departments/CountyCommissioners/main.htm
Skagit County Commissioner Actions on Agritourism
On January 29, 2024, the Skagit County Commissioners passed a temporary moratorium, Ordinance #20240001, regarding events and certain other activities on lands zoned Agriculture-Natural Resources (Ag-NRL), The Moratorium temporarily prohibits the acceptance of new permits for event venues on Skagit County agricultural land. The interim ordinance, which is still in effect, clarifies that permissible tourism-related activity on Skagit farmland does not include permanent businesses that conduct large events such as weddings and concerts.
On March 21, 2024, the Skagit County Administrative Official published an Administrative Official Interpretation (AOI), as required by Ordinance #20240001. The AOI establishes procedures by which existing businesses in substantial and continuous operation may document existing use rights and obtain compliance with other relevant law through entry into a Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA).
The VCA is a standard contract used by Skagit County Code Enforcement to document enforcement of agreed-upon compliance terms and conditions. Since the publication of the Administrative Official Interpretation in March, Skagit County Planning & Development Services staff have worked with multiple businesses in the County to bring operations under compliance with current code regulations.
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