After 10 months of Planning Commission hearings, the agriculture enterprise ordinance is heading to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors for consideration on Tuesday.
The ordinance would allow farms and agricultural properties to get into the agritourism business by adding campgrounds, farmstays, special events and tours to their properties.
Small-scale events could include cooking classes, farm-to-table dinners, weddings, writing and yoga workshops, bike races and equestrian rides.
Additionally, the ordinance would allow vineyards to serve food in wine tasting rooms.
Agricultural uses under the ordinance would include small-scale agricultural processing, farm stands, firewood processing and sales, composting and lumber processing, according to the 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 biggest ranches don't raise enough money to do much more than pay for their insurance premiums and their property taxes," Parke said. "It's just tough. You've got a lot of people, young entrepreneurs, that have small organic farms, and they're trying to do different all sorts of fun things on their farms and open up for people to come visit."
Parke said the ordinance would help provide a more consistent income for farmers who often face years of inconsistent income because of a bad harvest.
With more people allowed to visit local farms, they would get a better understanding of the work that goes into agriculture and the people behind it, especially in the North County.
"In general, we'd like see people in the South County have a better understanding of what goes on in the North County, especially with agriculture," Parke said. "If we can draw them up and get them to go to an organic farm or go to a ranch, and learn more about where things come from and how it happens and how people live, they'll have a greater appreciation for it."
Susan Petrovich, an attorney representing landowners who hope to take advantage of the ordinance, said the goal is to connect people with agriculture and support struggling 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 just to let them see what's going on in agriculture," Petrovich said.
She said farmers and landowners need such allowances for more income because of how expensive the agricultural industry has become.
"Everything's more expensive. There are a lot more requirements imposed on the agricultural industry, and as a result, many of them have had to go out of business and/or everyone in the household has to have another job, and then the farmer stays on the farm, and they drive off to the city to earn enough money for this whole enterprise to continue," Petrovich said.
The issue of setbacks has come up a lot at the Planning Commission hearings, and likely will again on Tuesday. There was concern as to how farmers would balance agritourism with protecting row and food crops. The Planning Commission initially considered requiring 1,000 feet between ordinance issues and crops, but that would have made many properties ineligible for the ordinance.
Instead, the commission proposed zoning overlays that would allow a limited number of ordinance uses.
For properties outside the overlays, the Planning Commission recommended a standard 200-foot setback for certain ordinance uses from adjacent agricultural commodities.
"There's some interesting possibilities that the ag enterprise ordinance will allow," said Dennis Bozanich, a consultant who's been representing North County landowners throughout the planning process. "The real question is whether or not it achieves its goals of providing a real economic benefit to property owners."
Bozanich said he wants to see the Board of Supervisors approve the ordinance and that the Planning Commission had to balance a lot of competing interests. However, it leaves larger property owners with few allowances, he said.
"There were some very realistic concerns about food security, and I understand that," Bozanich said. "It begs the question, that if you have 500 acres or 1,000 acres, why are you left to such small, little accessory ag enterprise uses through this ordinance?"
However, he said it's a good starting point and hopes for amendments in the future to allow for more uses.
The Board of Supervisors is set to consider the ordinance at its hearing on Tuesday. It is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. in the fourth-floor hearing room at 105 E. Anapamu St.
Public comments can be submitted to sbcob@countyofsb.org by 5 p.m. Monday or made during the meeting hearing in person or on Zoom.