Skagit Planning Commission reviews agritourism code recommendations; public comment urges support for small farmers

The Skagit County Planning Commission on Aug. 19 reviewed recommendations from a temporary Community Advisory Group and the Agricultural Advisory Board on proposed agritourism code changes remanded to staff by the Skagit County Board of County Commissioners.

The proposals, presented by Jack Lorum, Planning and Development Services director, aim to clarify what counts as agritourism on agricultural natural resource lands (Ag NRL), set measurable thresholds for different levels of agritourism, and address participation in the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Lorum said the draft code would require agritourism activities to be “conducted by a farmer on an actively managed, ongoing farm operation” and to remain “incidental to the site's primary agricultural use.”

The matter matters to Skagit County because the Board remanded the initial code amendments for more study and asked staff to examine five items: whether agritourism needs a separate code category; rules for participation in the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival; whether rules should differ by geography within the county; whether temporary-event standards are sufficiently detailed; and whether amendments would be consistent with recent state and judicial decisions.

Lorum summarized the background: county staff began an agritourism study in 2021, issued policy recommendations and public workshops in 2022, and advanced draft code amendments through 2023. The Board imposed a moratorium on new permit applications for agritourism on Ag NRL land in January 2024; the moratorium was extended by the Board to January 2026, Lorum said. He told commissioners…