Minutes 02-09-2016 - Laserfiche WebLink

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6 • Affordable Housing Advisory Board: Noah Oswald, Member Noah Oswald said Chair Barbee had another commitment and had to leave, but he said she did want to thank the Board of Commissioners for all that it has done, noting that the Affordable Housing Advisory Board is at full capacity, which allows for more productive meetings. He also expressed her thanks to the BOCC for including affordable housing as part of bond referendum. Noah Oswald said the draft plan submitted to the BOCC consists of three components: gather information, innovative solutions, and effective collaboration. He said he would like to give the BOCC and the public more information about the impact of affordable housing efforts. He said his Board has talked about property inventory, housing vouchers and barriers landlords face in offering affordable housing. He said there are a lot of units working toward affordable housing that can be coordinated to have a far greater impact on the issue. He said his Board is hoping to work more effectively with its sister boards and the non-profit community. Commissioner Pelissier expressed agreement with the goal of effective collaboration. She referred to the work plan and asked if the BOCC can attend the affordable housing bus tour. Noah Oswald said he was not part of the Board the last time this tour was conducted, but he would extend an invitation to the BOCC when the tour next occurs. • Agricultural Preservation Board (APB): Renee McPherson, Chair Renee McPherson thanked the BOCC for her appointment. Staff Member Peter Sandbeck said the APB had a good year and added 17 new farms this past year voluntarily. He said there is a total of 69 farms in the program now. He said the ordinance was tweaked to allow farms that are not in the present use program to be in the voluntary agricultural district program, and there is now have one farmer who is eligible. Issues: o Current Present Use program rules require that new owners or heirs of farmland must apply for Present Use status within a short period of time after the land transfer has taken place, or the option to enroll expires. Some farmers and property owners are not aware of this rule and are forced to wait the full four-year waiting period before they are able to participate in the Present Use program. Better education is needed to inform new owners of this requirement. o Efforts to keep farmland in agricultural producing and farmers in farming in the County depend partly on developing and maintaining local and regional markets for farm products. Nationally and regionally, direct-to-consumer sales of farm products appear to be plateauing or decreasing by some measures, such as sales at farmers markets and customer participation in CSAs. The APB would like to explore the possibility of forming a study group or task force to develop strategies for fostering local direct-to- consumer and regional sales opportunities for our farmers. o Nuisance lawsuits by neighboring property owners continue to be a problem for some farmers. Those who purchase property next to a pre-existing farm operation still have the ability to complain and sue based on farm smells and noise unless the farm is already enrolled in the VAD/EVAD program. Chair McKee said he thinks the tax office sends out notifications regarding Present Use status, but he would follow up.