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Skagit County approves farmland easements to protect 107 acres near La Conner; payments may use IRS 1031 exchange
Summary
Commissioners approved two Farmland Legacy conservation easements on Oct. 6 that add 107 acres in the La Conner area to the county's protected farmland inventory; the landowners will receive $210,000 and used a notice of assignment to enable a tax‑deferred 1031 exchange, staff said.
Skagit County commissioners approved two farmland conservation easements Oct. 6 that together protect 107 acres north of the town of La Conner, county staff said.
Sarah Stoner, the county's Farmland Legacy agricultural lands coordinator, told commissioners the two parcels — held by Northwest Territory LLC and a related LLC representing the Hauser family — sit adjacent to each other along McLean Road and La Conner‑Whitney Road. The easements remove two development rights and compensate the landowner(s) for a total of $210,000, Stoner said. She added the newly protected acreage adjoins an existing protected block of roughly 1,500 acres south of Highway 20 and east of the Swinomish Channel.
Stoner said two notices of assignment accompanying the easement documents facilitate the landowner's use of an Internal Revenue Service Section 1031 tax‑deferred exchange; "the notices of assignment...assign the funds to an exchange company so instead of receiving the funds directly, the landowner can use the easement payment funds towards the purchase of another property," Stoner said.
Commissioners voted to approve miscellaneous agenda items 1–4, which included the two easements and their supporting notices of assignment. County staff said the farmland legacy fund is a separate voter‑approved fund and is not part of the county general fund.
Why it matters: Conservation easements remove future development rights from farmland, preserving productive soils and limiting sprawl. The acquisition expands a large contiguous block of protected agricultural land in a region of Skagit County that county staff identified as high priority for farmland protection.
Next steps: Staff will record the easements and process assignment paperwork to support the owner's exchange.
