108-21-6 Agritourism Eligibility Factors

In determining whether a property qualifies as an Agritourism-Eligible Agricultural Operation, the Land Use Authority may consider, among other relevant evidence, the following: (a) the presence of ongoing cultivation, irrigation, livestock husbandry, hay production, orchards, greenhouses, barns, fencing, packing areas, livestock grazing, soil work, or other observable agricultural improvements; (b) regular human management, labor, or stewardship occurring on the property; (c) the presence of agricultural sales, farm education, direct marketing, value-added processing, or other productive agricultural enterprise activities, where applicable; (d) historical value of agricultural use on the property; (e) the proportional relationship between the scale of the agricultural operation and the size, location, and characteristics of the parcel; (f) the presence of an accountable on-site operator, owner, manager, family member, or farm partner actively engaged in the agricultural operation; (g) supporting materials voluntarily provided by the applicant, including but not limited to photographs, farm plans, invoices, business records, Greenbelt enrollment, narrative descriptions, or similar evidence; and (h) any other facts reasonably demonstrating that the agricultural operation is active, managed, and more than incidental to the overall use of the property, and constitutes a meaningful physical use of the property rather than a nominal or symbolic feature. Applicants shall demonstrate at least 6 of the above eligibility factors to be deemed eligible for agritourism. Applicants may be required to provide documentation sufficient to demonstrate ongoing agricultural activity and operational viability. Proprietary financial records, tax documents, trade secrets, contracts, or competitively sensitive information submitted for this purpose shall, where permissible under state law, be reviewed administratively and maintained separately from the public record to protect applicant privacy while ensuring regulatory compliance Intensive agricultural production, specialty crop cultivation, greenhouse production, rotational livestock systems, or other high-management agricultural operations may satisfy agritourism eligibility standards even when they occur on smaller acreage. However, they must be supported by additional activities such as instructional workshops, onsite sales (farmstand), a Community Supported Agricultura (CSA) operation, U-pick operation, or some way in which the public / paying customer interacts with the agricultural function in a valuable way.