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March 17, 2017 Bills would ease new dwellings on farmland Critics say the proposals would disrupt agriculture By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press SALEM — Two bills aimed at ex- panding affordable housing in rural Oregon would make it easier to build dwellings or permanently reside in rec- reational vehicles on farmland. Advocates of House bills 2937 and 2938 say the proposals would help miti- gate the state’s housing shortage without undermining protections for farmland. However, critics argue the bills would disrupt agricultural operations without having much impact on housing and could be counterproductive by encourag- ing short-term rentals. “It’s just not the best use of farmland,” said Mary Anne Nash, public policy counsel for the Oregon Farm Bureau. Proponents of the bills said lawmakers need to be creative in finding solutions to Oregon’s housing problem. There are limits to what can be accom- plished with legislation focused on land- lord-tenant relations, said Julie Parrish, R-West Linn, during a March 14 legisla- tive hearing. “It doesn’t put new units in the mix,” she said. Oregon’s land use system was intend- ed to preserve farmland but not to create insufficient housing and perpetuate home- lessness, Parrish said. Meanwhile, HB 2937 and 2938 have restrictions that limit new dwellings and won’t “upset the land use apple cart in any significant way,” she said. Under HB 2937, a single “accessory dwelling” can be sited within 100 feet of an existing home in a rural residential zone, or in a “exclusive farm use” zone with a county conditional use permit. The same conditions apply to a single recreational vehicle used for “residential purposes” under HB 2938. County governments can decide wheth- er or not to incorporate these provisions into their land use plans and they’re also free to place additional restrictions on ac- cessory dwellings and recreational vehi- cles sited in farm zones, according to sup- porters. “The opportunity to be bold is there. You’re going to take political arrows either way,” said Shawn Cleave, government af- fairs director for the Oregon Association of Realtors. Critics of the proposals say that afford- able housing is needed more near cities where residents have access to jobs, trans- portation and other services, rather than in remote rural areas. More people living in the countryside also means strains will increase on local road and water systems, opponents said. Neither bill requires housing to be provided at affordable rates or to resi- dents with low incomes, said Mary Kyle McCurdy, deputy director of the 1,000 Friends of Oregon, a nonprofit that sup- ports Oregon’s land use system. The proposals don’t prohibit landown- ers from using the dwellings for short- term vacation rentals, which often crowd out long-term rentals, McCurdy said. Even if the bills contained such provi- sions, they’d be difficult to enforce given the rural locations of the dwellings, she said. The profitability of short-term rentals has caused them to proliferate in Hood River County, where farming is already challenging because of the small size of farm parcels, said Mike McCarthy, an or- chardist in the county. Farm practices are often incompatible with residential uses and growers must comply with federal restrictions that pro- hibit spraying pesticides near dwellings, McCarthy said. CapitalPress.com 5 Washington lawmaker not on board with hiking beef checkoff By DON JENKINS Capital Press OLYMPIA — A proposal to double the Washington Beef Com- mission’s budget has not won sup- port from a House member who’s been chewing on the subject for months. The Senate already has passed a bill to increase the beef check- off to $2.50 from $1.50. While 50 cents would still go to the national Cattlemen’s Beef Board, the added dollar would go to the state com- mission. The increase would boost the commission’s annual budget to about $2 million from $1 million. The measure now goes to the House, where Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, told colleagues last year he would meet with producers to talk over the idea. Dent said Thursday he would “hard-pressed” to support a dollar increase. “That would double the budget,” he said. “That’s a lot.” The per head fee, paid by cat- tle sellers, has been the same since 2001. The Washington Cattlemen’s Association, Cattle Feeders of Washington and the Washington State Dairy Federation support the fee increase as a vital contribution to burnishing beef’s image in an age of internet misinformation. The Cattle Producers of Wash- ington opposes the fee increase, Don Jenkins/Capital Press Washington state Rep. Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, says he doubts a proposal to double the Beef Commission’s budget will pass the House. arguing ranches don’t get enough benefit or enough information about how their money is being spent. Sen. Judy Warnick, also a Mo- ses Lake Republican, joined Dent in meeting extensively over the past year with producers. Warnick came down in favor of the fee increase, a decision that she acknowledged was not universal- ly embraced by cattlemen. “It is a decision I did not take lightly,” she said. Dent said he might consid- er backing a phased-in increase, though he said that would depend on the Senate passing his Beef Commission bill. The measure would leave the checkoff at $1.50, while requiring the commission to present a “detailed and explanato- ry” budget. “My bill has to get to the gover- nor’s desk, or I won’t do anything,” Dent said. The bill has passed the House and will have a hearing Thursday by the Senate agriculture commit- tee, which Warnick chairs. The commission’s executive director, Patti Brumbach, said she would have no problem complying with Dent’s bill. “Anyway we can improve our communication, we welcome,” she said. Many cattlemen have come to Olympia to testify in support of raising the beef checkoff. “We’re very, very proud to come with a substantial coalition of other livestock groups that are in favor of this legislation,” said Washington Cattlemen’s Association President Tyler Cox, a Walla Walla rancher. The Washington Farm Bureau also has gotten involved, sending an email alert asking its members to support Warnick’s bill. Cattle Producers of Washing- ton President Scott Nielsen said in an interview that the ranchers he’s spoken to overwhelming oppose the increase. “I do not believe it would be supported by a majority of the peo- ple,” he said. “They could put it to a vote. I believe it would fail.” Brumbach said a vote would be expensive and logistically difficult, and the final decision would still rest with the Legislature. Missouri cattlemen last year voted down a proposal to raise that state’s beef checkoff by $1. The Missouri Cattlemen’s Asso- ciation, Missouri Farm Bureau and two dairy groups supported hiking the fee. Some 6,565 producers vot- ed, and 75 percent said “no.” Ag group aims to start Eastern Idaho virtual farmers’ market By JOHN O’CONNELL Capital Press DRIGGS, Idaho — An orga- nization that recently formed to create marketing opportunities for locally produced food plans to start a web-based virtual farmers’ market, with the goal of serving a four-county area. Participants in the Teton Food and Farm Coalition, which started on Dec. 16, 2016, meet monthly to discuss ways to link area food producers with distributors, restau- rants, processors and others in- volved in the local food system. Participants include Universi- ty of Idaho, Teton Valley Farmers Market, the City of Driggs, large- and small-scale producers, High Country Resource Conservation & Development, and a pair of non- profits devoted to local food — Full Circle Education and Slow Food in the Tetons. The coalition will apply for a Courtesy of University of Idaho Extension roughly $250,000 grant through A hot air balloon flies over the Teton Valley Farmers’ Market in Driggs, Idaho. Members of a new organization based in USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Driggs aim to create a virtual farmers’ market serving four counties. Service to expand direct sales of lo- cal food, hire a coordinator for their Slow Food would oversee the daily 50 acres. Half of the producers ers, we’re still willing to help,” organization and fund development operations of the virtual farmers’ surveyed estimated at least 76 Penfold said. percent of their products were of the virtual farmers’ market. The market. University of Idaho Teton “Anything that can make the consumed locally. project would seek to develop both County Extension educator Jen- Wyatt Penfold, who has a large nifer Werlin, who started her job a print directory of producers and agricultural sector stronger is an online forum marketing goods something High Country is very farm in Driggs, said his 16-year-old last April, said she’s specializing from producers in Teton County, interested in,” said High Country son Alex will attend the coalition’s in community food systems largely Idaho, and Teton County, Wyo., Executive Coordinator Pam Her- meetings on behalf of his farm and based on the results of the agricul- the Farm Bureau. eventually expanding into Idaho’s drich. tural assessment. Werlin believes Penfold has sold barley direct- the virtual farmers’ market has the Herdrich explained awareness Fremont and Madison counties. Customers would pick up their pro- of local food opportunities came ly to local microbreweries and potential to serve more than 100 duce and goods from central loca- from a 2014 regional agricultur- envisions the virtual market could producers within a 100-mile radius al assessment her organization help move some of his quinoa. But of Driggs. tions. The grant will be submitted un- led, with funding from the De- he believes the virtual market will “We have quite a local food der the nonprofit umbrella of High partment of Housing and Urban offer the greatest opportunities to movement happening in the area,” Country RC&D, which provides Development. The assessment small-scale producers. Werlin said. “We’re looking at sev- “I’m going to stay involved in eral different federal, state and local technical assistance and support found 20 percent of regional to projects that improve local sus- farms were larger than 500 acres, it because it’s a great tool for the grant opportunities that will help tainable economies and agriculture. while 40 percent were less than community to show as larger farm- build our local food economy.” 11-2/#14
