City attorney says ag-zone dwellings require principal farm, recreation or resource use under current ordinance

City Attorney Mr. Stockford told a joint Auburn City Council and Planning Board workshop on Jan. 21 that the plain language of the Agriculture and Resource Protection District chapter and the ordinance definitions indicate the parcel’s principal use must be agricultural, recreational or natural resource-focused before a new dwelling may be approved.

“Based on the language of the Agriculture and Resource Protection District chapter of the ordinance and interpreting that in light of the definition of what an accessory use is, it's our opinion that the principal use of a property needs to be for 1 of those specified purposes,” Stockford said. He noted the definition of accessory use in the ordinance — a “subordinate use of land or building… customarily incidental and subordinate to the principal use” — supports that reading.

The opinion responds to a minority report from the ad hoc agricultural committee, which argued the committee’s report misrepresents section 6145A1 and that…