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Delegation votes to add Washington County to state agritourism building-code exemption; zoning questions remain at county level
Summary
The Washington County Delegation agreed to advance legislation that would add the county to other jurisdictions exempting certain agritourism buildings from commercial building-code inspections; delegates and county staff said the bill does not address overnight stays or wedding venues, which remain county zoning issues.
The Washington County Delegation voted to move forward with legislation that would add Washington County to a list of jurisdictions whose agritourism buildings are treated differently for building-code inspections. Delegation members said the bill applies only to buildings used primarily for agritourism activities and does not change county zoning or rules for wedding venues or overnight stays.
County Administrator Michelle Gordon told the delegation the Board of County Commissioners unanimously supported adding Washington County "as the Nineteenth County" to the state legislation and did not propose any amendments. Michelle Gordon said the county board "supports adding Washington County to the legislation as it is currently written."
Aaron Mosier and a Mr. Stoner (participants in the agritourism discussions) told the delegation the bill is intended to avoid building inspectors applying full commercial sprinkler and life-safety requirements to farm buildings used for ag-related educational events, small retail (for example, a flower shop on a farm) or classes tied to farming. "Basically... this is just a way to say that if these buildings are purely used for ag tourism... we want to support ag tourism by not having the county building inspectors go out with their microscopes," a participant said.
Delegation members repeatedly clarified that the bill does not include overnight stays or commercial wedding venues. As one presenter explained, a wedding "is considered a commercial event... this bill has nothing to do and does not address the bigger venues, which... could be clarified in the county zoning." The delegation heard that county-level zoning adjustments would be the appropriate venue to address those questions.
A motion to move the legislation forward was made and seconded; the delegation voted in favor and instructed staff to drop the bill for the next step in the process. Delegation members also asked that they be informed of any suggested county zoning changes in the future, but no county-level zoning change was proposed or adopted by the delegation at this meeting.
