Concerns aired about Pierce County proposed agritourism plan
County's ag advisory commission urges slow process to fine-tune regulations
Pierce County’s Agriculture Advisory Commission is busy developing regulations that will impact the county’s approach to agritourism.
Early draft of the regulations is prompting debate among advisory board members.
“I’m extremely concerned we are moving forward in a rapid fashion,” advisory board member Jerome O’Leary said during last week’s agriculture advisory board meeting. “You have to give them the flexibility of operation of a season business. I think we really need to go slow here.”
The draft of the regulations outlines the requirements to qualify being considered agritourism, agriculture needs to be the primary use of the land. That can be proven through IRS Schedule F tax form, pass a profit motive test and have 75 percent of the viable land be used for agriculture, according to a draft of the regulations.
