Planning staff flag Living Earth Farms code issues and a pending zone‑change request; council to seek property owner meeting

Planning staff outlined an upcoming zone‑change request and described an active code‑enforcement case involving a small farm store that may prompt a broader zoning discussion.

Gary (planning staff) said the planning commission’s coming docket is light, and the item of most interest is a zone‑change request from Chris Wyler to rezone roughly three acres to Recreation Resort. That request originally followed a lot‑split and was postponed while related matters were corrected; staff said the council will likely see the zone change again and that an update to the related development agreement may be necessary to address density provisions.

Gary also described a code‑enforcement instance at Living Earth Farms, a property that converted an existing building to a farm store without required building permits and a business license. The property is zoned Residential Agriculture (one acre) and retail farm store uses are not currently allowed in that zone. Gary said the operators sell packaged and farm‑related goods sourced locally and from nearby cities, but they lacked permits and staff are working to rectify the situation.

Staff raised the question of whether limited farm‑store retail could be accommodated in agricultural zones via a code update or conditional use permit process. Gary recommended exploring limited allowances in straight agricultural zones rather than the Residential Agriculture district.

Gary also raised a broader enforcement concern tied to a different property owner, Jeremy Johnson. He described a long history of violations at that property: unpermitted dwellings in warehouses, RVs on site without proper sewer or electrical hookups, and an earlier conditional rezoning that required moving RVs and securing sewer connections as conditions of approval. Because a development agreement tied to that rezoning apparently was not executed, promised infrastructure upgrades and conditions were not completed. Staff said many more tiny homes and trailers have since been added, creating a complex enforcement matter. Gary recommended scheduling a meeting with the owner to take a global view of the property and to pursue compliance before considering any new entitlements for neighboring farm‑store requests.

Ending: Planning staff said they will follow up with the council and meet with the property owner to seek resolution before advancing code or zoning changes for adjacent properties.