French Prairie Agreement
What has come to be called the French Prairie Agreement results from the adoption
of a vision statement regarding the French Prairie area by Clackamas and Marion
Counties and the cities of Aurora, Canby, Donald, Hubbard, Wilsonville and Woodburn
in early 2006. This agreement defines an area of interest in the French Prairie
area because (among other reasons):
- Agriculture is the largest industry in Clackamas and Marion Counties;
- The Northern Willamette Valley, commonly known as French Prairie, is home
to some of the richest and most productive soil in the world;
- The highest and best use of most lands south of the Willamette River that
are not part of an existing city or an existing city’s planned growth expansion
area is for agricultural and agriculture-related purposes;
- The Willamette River provides the best natural barrier between the urban
and rural areas of the Portland metropolitan region and the rich agricultural
lands of the Willamette Valley;
- There are many acres of industrial land that can be redeveloped throughout
the Portland-Metro region for additional industrial needs and uses;
- Land use policies should not be violated to benefit one entity or special
interest for their financial gain at the expense of the greater good of the region’s
residents and businesses
Click here to read the French Prairie Vision Statement
Municipalities formally adopting the French Prairie Agreement
as of this date are:
Oregon Department of Land Conservation and Development documents
A. Excerpts from a DLCD document on allowable agricultural uses
on EFU zoned land.
- The definition of farm use serves a dual purpose. It identifies both the
uses allowed in a farm zone and the uses which receive special farm use property
tax assessment. In ORS 215 it reads: “As used in this section, “farm
use” means the current employment of land for the primary purpose of obtaining
a profit in money by raising, harvesting and selling crops or the feeding, breeding,
management and sale of, or the produce of, livestock, fur-bearing animals or
honeybees or for dairying and the sale of dairy products or any other agricultural
or horticultural use or animal husbandry or any combination thereof. “Farm
use” includes the preparation, storage and disposal by marketing or otherwise
of the products or by-products raised on such land for human use or animal use.”
- Because the distinction between “preparation” and “processing” is
not always easy to determine, LCDC adopted a rule (OAR 660-033-0020(7(b)) to
further define the term “preparation” as it is used in the definition
of “farm use.” It reads:
“Preparation of products or by-products includes but is not limited to the cleaning, treatment, sorting, composting or packaging of the products or
by-products.”
“Preparation of a farm product is something less than “processing.” Making
a new or different product from the naturally grown farm product is “processing” not “preparation” and
treated as either a “processing facility” of “farm crops” in
a building less than 10,000 sq. feet or a “commercial activity in conjunction
with farm use. All “processing” facilities, regardless of size, where
more than 75% of the product comes from other farms, are treated as “commercial” activities
in conjunction with farm use.
- Processing facilities for farm crops were allowed in 1997 in order to encourage
small scale facilities on the farm... Such facilities are subject to three limitations:
1) they can only process farm crops (plants not livestock/animals or other);
2) at least one-quarter of farm crops processed must come from the farm operation
on which the facility is located; and 3) the building for the processing facility
cannot exceed 10,000 square feet of floor area exclusive of the floor area designated
for preparation, storage or other farm use or devote more than 10,000 square
feet to the processing activities within another building supporting farm uses.
Download the entire article in PDF by clicking here: Uses allowed in Farm
Zones Supportive of the Agricultural Industry
B. Excerpts from a DLCD document regarding Oregon’s Statewide
Planning Goals and Guidelines for Agricultural Lands:
- Agricultural lands shall be preserved and maintained for farm use, consistent
with existing and future needs for agricultural products, forest and open space
and with the state's agricultural land use policy expressed in ORS 215.243 and
215.700.
- Zoning applied to agricultural land shall limit uses which can have significant
adverse effects on agricultural and forest land, farm and forest uses or accepted
farming or forest practices.
- Plans providing for the preservation and maintenance of farm land for farm
use, should consider as a major determinant the carrying capacity of the air,
land and water resources of the planning area. The land conservation and development
actions provided for by such plans should not exceed the carrying capacity of
such resources.
- Non-farm uses permitted within farm use zones under ORS 215.213(2) and (3)
and 215.283(2) and (3) should be minimized to allow for maximum agricultural
productivity.
Download a PDF of the Goals and Guidelines document by clicking here.
C. Protecting farmland still a priority for Oregon Department of Agriculture and DLCD.
The protection of farmland is as important as ever in Oregon, according to
two state agencies and their respective board or commission. In 2004 the
State Board of Agriculture and the Land Conservation and Development Commission
(LCDC) met in joint session to discuss Oregon´s land use laws and why they
are still needed by agriculture
"Agricultural land can´t be viewed as an idle resource waiting
to be converted to homes, office buildings, retail outlets, or other types of
development," said Katy Coba, director of the Oregon Department of Agriculture. "These
lands and their associated infrastructure are an integral and stable economic
platform statewide, both urban and rural."
Read the entire article, click here
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Oregon Dept. of Agriculture, Agriculture Land Inventory
In support of the Oregon Dept. of Land Conservation and Development hearings re: proposed New and Amended Administrative Rules establishing a process and criteria for Metro Area Urban and Rural reserves, pursuant to 2007 legislation (SB 1011), the Oregon Dept. of Agriculture completed a land survey and published the Agriculture Land Inventory and Analysis map in March, 2008. As seen below, this map defines all land surrounding metro Portland considered to be of high enough quality to be designated as “Foundation Agriculture Land.”
To download Oregon Dept. of Agriculture Land Inventory and Analysis map, click here
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