Yakima County holds public hearing on proposed agritourism code changes, lodging and acreage remain contested

Yakima County on Tuesday opened a public hearing on draft changes to county code governing outdoor festivals and agritourism, with staff and industry representatives debating how rules should treat overnight lodging, minimum acreage for agritourism operations and temporary parking.

Olivia Story, manager for long-range planning and public services, told the Board of Yakima County Commissioners the draft updates are intended to clarify distinctions between low-impact uses (for example, production and occasional tastings) and higher-impact agritourism activities that can include events, lodging and larger venues. "This is our second public hearing for our agritourism project," Story said, and staff has taken recommendations from an advisory group and the planning commission into the draft.

The draft separates basic winery/brewery/distillery operations from a distinct Agritourism Operation (ATO) permit that would be required for facilities offering larger events or lodging. Story said two specific open questions remain in the draft: whether crops grown on-site must be used in products sold on the property, and what the minimum producing acreage should be — staff recommended lowering the existing 5-acre producing minimum to 3 acres and the advisory group suggested 1 acre; the planning commission recommended 3 acres.

Tommy Carroll, Yakima County planning, said the county originally created a simple permit for wineries so small producers could make and sell wine with limited review, and introduced the ATO category later for larger, destination-style operations. "What we did with this go around ... was try to open up the basic winery and the distillery permits to allow for more food service and allow for the events, basically try to accommodate what they're currently doing. But if you wanted to do lodging, you have to go through the ATO permit," Carroll said. He added the county reduced the ATO review level from a type 4 to a type 3 in the draft to lower cost and procedural burdens while retaining a hearing process.

Members of the public who participated — several of whom identified as winery owners or industry participants — urged changes to preserve lodging and flexible options for small operators. Paul Beveridge, a member of the advisory group and an agritourism operator, said the draft as circulated would reduce options for lodging and make large parts of current practice harder or impossible. "If we wanna capture that (tourism) we gotta be more friendly to agritourism. We gotta give people a place to stay, and we gotta take another cut at drafting these rules," Beveridge said. Sal Leone of Silver Lake Winery asked the county to broaden the lodging definition to include newer prefabricated or container-type overnight units, arguing some alternatives do not fit the existing stick-built/RV/membrane categories.

Speakers also raised questions about parking and how temporary overflow parking for events would be handled without creating impervious surfaces that could conflict with agricultural protections. Carroll said the draft tries to allow temporary overflow parking "if determined not to interfere with existing agricultural operations," noting permanent parking lots could count toward a one-acre nonagricultural-use limit under Growth Management Act constraints.

Commenters and staff traced the proposal's long history: the county said stakeholder advisory meetings ran for months with roughly 11 regular participants, the planning commission held a public hearing with about 33 attendees in February 2022 and the board held a prior public hearing on Dec. 12, 2023. Story said that if the board adopts regulations there would be a 90-day appeal period; new rules would not take effect until 91 days after adoption if no appeals were filed.

Commissioners said they will schedule a work session to deliberate further. Commissioner Curtis noted the hearing remained open and that additional public comment would be accepted; Commissioners Lindy and McKinney asked staff to prepare materials and to circulate written comments through the clerk so staff and the commissioners can review them before the next work session.

The board took no final action on the agritourism draft at Tuesday's meeting; the public hearing was extended for additional comment and future deliberation.

Ending

The board directed staff to set a follow-up work session in April or May for continued deliberations. If the board later adopts regulations, the county said the new rules would be subject to a 90-day appeal period before becoming effective.