CU26-005 PC Decision - Laserfiche WebLink

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v. For purposes of this section, potential impacts to farm and forest practices or the cost of farm and forest practices, impacts relating to the construction or installation of the proposed use shall be deemed part of the use itself for the purpose of conducting a review under this section. vi. In the consideration of potentially mitigating conditions of approval under ORS 215.296(2), the governing body may not impose such a condition upon the owner of the affected farm or forest land or on such land itself, nor compel said owner to accept payment to compensate for the significant changes or significant increases in costs described in this section. The subject parcel consists of 7.92-acres of land that has been demonstrated to be comprised of at least 51 percent non-high value farm soils. The existing uses adjacent to the subject parcel are dominated by housing and non-farm uses such as industrial uses and public uses. There is a 35-unit subdivision and a man-made lake to the west. To the north are industrial zoned lands accommodating a sanitary service company with truck storage and shops, along with a plumbing company and a 19.23-acre business park. Behind the industrial park is a photovoltaic solar farm on a 13.17-acre SA zoned parcel as well as two EFU zoned parcels of 18.56 and 23.81 acres of sod grass and nursery stock. To the east of this is a 45.57-acre parcel that is divided by 63rd Avenue NE and is planted in nursery stock. To the south is a 6.4-acre parcel zoned SA with a non-farm dwelling along with several accessory structures where the occupants process wood products in small batches. To the southwest of this parcel is a 11.9-acre nursery parcel which is accessed from Aetna ST SE. Southeast of the subject parcel are several parcels with small hobby farms with non-farm dwellings. These parcels are accessed via 62nd Avenue SE. Along 62nd Ave NE there is a 33.82- acre parcel that is planted with hazelnut trees and a 9.71-acre that is used for grazing livestock. In the applicant’s application their representative used a 1,500 foot buffer of the subject parcel for the analysis of the impact to farm and forest practices. Outside this 1,500 foot radius there are many areas already developed and zoned as non-resource lands. The majority of the area zoned as EFU is to the northeast, generally north of State Street where the land use pattern is large acreage agriculture. The area to the southeast is mainly SA and EFU with medium to large agriculture parcels in a mixture of uses including some smaller non-farm dwellings. Further out are several areas of acreage residential zoning. To the west of the subject parcel and outside the 1,500 analysis area the uses are agricultural, public and eventually run into the urban growth boundary of the City of Salem. The predominate land use is nursery, row crops and greenhouses with a few small acreage homesites. There is a 28.62 acre parcel of SA zoned land at the corner of State Street and Cordon RD SE that contains a local radio stat ion transmission array. North of State Street near the urban growth boundary is an industrial area of about 19 acres. Adjacent to this is a 37.58-acrea area zoned Public with a soccer club and facilities. To the east of this area is another public zoned area that contains a Portland General Electric facility on approximately 40 aces. To the south of the subject parcel and outside the 1,500 foot radius area the land use pattern is small acreage SA parcels with a mix of homesites and agricultural fields. This pattern continues until the southeastern City of Salem urban grown boundary. This area also contains additional AR parcels with homesites. The principal active farm parcel is immediately adjacent to the subject parcel to the east. This parcel has its own distinct access, and the subject parcel will not depend on a shared access point. The applicants state that this parcel sees mainly 3 or 4 activity periods during the year; during planting, then during spraying, which is done by hand, then again at harvest, and mowing once harvest is completed. One additional non-farm dwelling with separate access is not expected to significantly change the farm practices or increase the cost of acceptable farm practices on the neighboring parcel. All other farm operations within 1500 feet of subject property would have no impact due to their access locations and having small hobby farms between them and subject property. Outside this 1,500 foot area of analysis provided by the applicants, the addition of this non-farm dwelling is not expected to affect the surrounding farm and forest practices as the distances between are significant to isolate the impacts. This area also is along a major arterial and there are developed street grids around the area that act as de-facto barriers and keep uses separated. The nearby urban growth boundary introduces many non-farming uses, and the pre-existing subdivisions and Acreage Residential areas have introduced many non-agriculture uses to the area. Many of the residential uses in the SA lands that surround the subject parcel are generally small homesites on parcels as small as ½ acre (or smaller) and many more that are less than 5 acres. The criteria are met.