County Supervisors Consider Ag Enterprise Ordinance Allowing Campgrounds and Events

After 10 months of Planning Commission hearingsthe agricultural enterprise regulation goes to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors for treatment on Tuesday.

The ordinance would allow farms and agricultural properties to get into the agritourism industry by adding campsites, farm stays, special events and tours to their properties.

Small-scale events can include cooking classes, farm-to-table dinners, weddings, writing and yoga workshops, cycling races and equestrian events.

Additionally, the ordinance would allow vineyards to serve food in wine tasting rooms.

According to the regulation, agricultural uses would include small-scale agricultural processing, farm stands, fuelwood processing and sale, composting and wood processing. staff letter to the board.

Planning Commissioner John Parke has been working on this for the past five or six years to help farmers and landowners find a way to supplement their income.

“Some of the largest ranches don’t raise enough money to do much more than pay their insurance premiums and their property taxes,” Parke said. “It’s just tough. You have a lot of people, young entrepreneurs, who have small organic farms, and they’re trying to do all kinds of fun things on their farms and open it up to people coming to visit.”

Parke said the ordinance would help provide a more consistent income for farmers who often face inconsistent income for years due to a poor harvest.

If more people were allowed to visit local farms, they would gain a better understanding of the work that goes into farming and the people behind it, especially in the North County.

“Overall, we would like to see people in the South County have a better understanding of what’s happening in the North County, especially in terms of agriculture,” Parke said. “If we can set them up and get them to go to an organic farm or ranch, and learn more about where things come from and how it happens and how people live, they will have a greater appreciation for it.”

Susan Petrovich, an attorney representing landowners hoping to benefit from the ordinance, said the goal is to connect people to agriculture and support distressed farms.

“The whole idea is to get people out so they can see, first of all, how beautiful California is, and Santa Barbara in particular, but also to just show them what’s happening in agriculture,” Petrovich said.

She said farmers and landowners need such grants for increased income because of how expensive the agricultural sector has become.

“Everything is more expensive. There are many more demands placed on the agricultural sector, and as a result many of them have had to quit and/or everyone in the household has to have another job, and then the farmer stays on the farm, and they drive to the city to get enough to make money to continue this whole business,” Petrovich said.

The issue of setbacks has come up a lot during the Planning Commission hearings, and will likely do so again Tuesday. There were concerns about how farmers would balance agritourism with the protection of row and food crops. The Planning Commission initially considered requiring a distance of 1,000 feet between the ordinance issues and the crops, but that would have left many properties ineligible for the ordinance.

Instead, the commission proposed zoning overlays that would allow for a limited number of ordinance uses.

For properties outside the overlays, the Planning Commission has recommended a standard setback of 200 feet for certain adjacent agricultural uses.

“There are some interesting possibilities that the agricultural business ordinance will allow,” said Dennis Bozanich, a consultant who has represented North County landowners throughout the planning process. “The real question is whether or not it achieves its objectives of providing a real economic benefit to property owners.”

Bozanich said he wants the Board of Supervisors to approve the ordinance and said the Planning Commission had to balance many competing interests. However, it leaves larger property owners with few rights, he said.

“There were some very real concerns about food security, and I understand that,” Bozanich said. “It begs the question: If you have 500 hectares or 1,000 hectares, why are you being left to such small, small ancillary farming operations through this ordinance?”

However, he said it’s a good starting point and hopes for changes in the future to allow for more applications.

The Board of Supervisors will consider the ordinance during its hearing on Tuesday. The start is scheduled for 9 a.m. in the fourth floor hearing room at 105 E. Anapamu St.

Public comments may be submitted to [email protected] by Monday at 5 p.m. or during the meeting hearing in person or via Zoom.