During its October 2 meeting, Thurston’s Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) reviewed the comprehensive plan updates addressing a private appeal and community input on agriculture policies.
Private organization Futurewise challenged the county’s 2019 Comprehensive Plan update after it allegedly failed to comply with the state’s Growth Management Act (GMA).
In 2020, the BoCC docketed a project to review its agriculture policies and programs in response to Futurewise’s appeal of the Comprehensive Plan’s designation of agricultural lands of long-term commercial significance.
According to an informational fact sheet on the county's site, the county has been in the process of "reviewing which lands are protected for current and future agricultural use." This kind of zoning includes lot sizes and what can be built on the parcel.
Futurewise’s in-house legal team filed the case with the Growth Management Hearings Board, highlighting discrepancies in land designations, insufficient protections for rural areas and critical environments, and inadequate financial planning for essential infrastructure.
“Futurewise appealed our last comprehensive plan update that was completed in 2019, and they specifically indicated that we did not use most up-to-date soils information with designated agricultural lands of commercial significance,” said Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) Interim Director Ashley Arai.
"It has become clear that LTA (Long-Term Agriculture) zoning is not the best immediate vehicle for farmland conservation. The CPED team will stay engaged on these important farmland conservation strategies and look for appropriate
vehicles for discussion outside of LTA Zoning," detailed the agenda for the meeting.
“At a parallel track, we were also hearing a lot from the community about their interest in trying to expand policies and programs to help protect farmland,” added Arai.
These suggested revisions will expand the docket to include additional agriculture zoning considerations.
These items are docketed as CPA-16, Community-Driven Review of Agriculture Policies and Programs.
The BoCC set the scope for review in January 2022 and directed a review of existing designation criteria for long-term agriculture, and review and update based on soil information.
The review of soils is finished, producing a result that the farmland soils can be updated, and the map does not need to be changed.
“All community members engaged in this process have consistently relayed it is important to compensate landowners for any lost development rights that occur from rezoning to agriculture,” the agenda packet stated.
The CPED’s legal counsel has advised that the BoCC should take action before the end of this year on this topic to satisfy the appeal.
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Claire
Thurston County is foolish to even consider Future Wise in their deliberations. Future Wise is a narrowly-thinking group of climate change protagonists of which there is no basis in fact. All sizzle, no steak. This policy proposal deserves consideration. Definitely.
Wednesday, October 9 Report this
Southsoundguy
Just abolish zoning and end centralized control of land.
5 days ago Report this
northbeachcomm
Thurston County is planning for the future.
We want to have a future for our children and grandchildren.
That future means that we have to start planning now, do not wait.
Future Wise is a group that wants to have a decent future for our grand children.
Future Wise is a group that looks at issues such as agricultural land, closely.
We want to have set- aside agricultural lands here in Thurston county, we want
to make sure that we have farm lands so that we can raise food, so we can eat. The highways
may have problems, but we will have our farms lands here so that people can raise food to eat.
This issue is huge. Climate change is in the middle of this issue. Those of us who have lived here
for over 40 years see the creeks, and rivers get smaller, we have less rain. This is climate change.
We need water to raise crops. All of these issues come together. Let us work together, Thurston County!
5 days ago Report this
FirstOtter
You cannot eat asphalt. You cannot grow crops in a subdivision. If you like a nice steak dinner or eggs for breakfast, that involves livestock. They need hay, they need grains, they need room to move around and live a life that doesn't entail being raised in a warehouse. Hay grows on land. Grain does, too. Plants need soil, sunshine and rain, wind and bees and other insects for pollination. None of that is possible without unimproved land.
You may not believe in climate change but that doesn't mean it's not factual and is happening as I write this. Re defining farmland is just a way for developers to grab rural lands for warehouses, subdivisions, and '''economic zones'. If you want a really good look at what they have planned for us, just take a drive out to Puyallup. That city once had the most fertile soil in all of western WA and now it has: pavement and warehouses.
5 days ago Report this
2theroots
Oh my gosh. We have Huricane Helene and now Milton and people doubt climate change? A once in century Hurricane followed by another?
Anyway, I am glad Thurston is putting a pause here. The County has been losing farm land at an alarming rate and has little left. When climate change starts bring drought and famine you will regret decisions that allowed us to turn all our farmland into housing developments. We have enough land to house people already without converting agi lands. We just need to make that housing affordable.
5 days ago Report this