Planning Commission recommends agritourism overlay for Staley Family Farms

The Washington City Planning Commission on May 7 recommended approval of Z-25-10, a request from Staley Family Farms LLC to add an agritourism business overlay to about 29.44 acres at 3400 South Washington Fields Road.

The overlay would allow a long list of farm-related commercial uses on the property, including a bakery/café, barn dances, a carriage-house wedding venue, community garden plots, community-supported agriculture, a conference/education center, a corn maze, educational classes, indoor and outdoor farmers markets, a farm museum and farm tours, food concessions, a gift shop, a haunted house, hayrides, nurseries, an on-farm retail store, a petting zoo, play areas, recreational agricultural activities, restaurants, special events (which also require a separate special-use permit), u-pick operations and value-added product processing.

Staff described the overlay as intended to let farmers “generate supplementary income while promoting preservation of agricultural properties,” and cited Title 9, Chapter 12D, Section 4 of the city code for allowable uses. The applicant supplied hours and staffing estimates: weekday and weekend regular-season hours, expanded fall hours for peak season, one year-round full-time employee, 8–12 year-round part-time employees, and 100–200 seasonal part-time workers for large fall events. Staff noted the busiest period is the fall and said the applicant plans online ticketing to limit crowding.

The draft recommendation includes nine conditions added by staff to address concerns about parking, access management, and plan deviations. Key conditions require that patron parking be accommodated entirely on site so patrons do not park in the public right-of-way (condition 7) and that ingress/egress points be brought into conformance with the city’s access management plan prior to widening Washington Fields Road (condition 8). Other conditions clarify that agriculture remains the primary use and that any new buildings must obtain applicable city approvals and permits.

Commissioners asked staff about stall dimensions and maximum event capacity; staff said parking layout uses the city standard and emphasized that the number of parking stalls will govern patron capacity and that commercial operators must not rely on on-street parking. No members of the public offered spoken opposition during the hearing.

Commissioner Mitchell moved to recommend approval; Commissioner Anderson seconded. The commission voted unanimously to recommend approval to city council.

The city council will make the final decision at a later public hearing; the planning commission’s vote is a recommendation only.