DLCD Farm Stand Rule Changes
Paul Sheldon
Date: Thu, Jul 24, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Subject: RE: Please Stop the DLCD Farm Stand Rule Changes
To: Paul Sheldon <ex...@thecrestatwillowwitt.org>
Hi Paul,
Thanks for reaching out with your concern about farm stand regulation. I’ve heard from several constituents this week about this, and so my office contacted Department of Land Conservation and Development, which is charged with making rules around farm activities, to learn more.
We received the info below from DLCD. In particular, please take a look at the Fact Sheet, which explains the issues under consideration. As you will see, some farm activities, including U-Pick and roadside produce stands, would not require any kind of permit. Others will be allowed with a permit. As stated--
The concepts would not:
- Prohibit farm stands.
- Prohibit agri-tourism (like concerts, festivals, and farm-to-table meals).
- Prohibit U-Pick activities, educational tours, cow trains, hayrides, or pumpkin patches.
- Prohibit promotional activities at farm stands.
- Allow restaurants at farm stands.
- Require counties to verify that farm stands comply with their permits every seven years (This topic was discussed but the Department will not be moving forward with it).
I hope this information is at least somewhat reassuring. For example, Farm to Table dinners would not be limited unless a farm is offering more than 18 dinners a year. That seems quite adequate. Weddings and concerts would require additional permits. As someone who has produced both of those kinds of events on rural property, I think permitting weddings and concerts is an appropriate good-neighbor strategy. However, after you review the Fact Sheet, if you would like to provide input on these or any other issues, here below are the draft language and a link to the rulemaking website.
- 2025 Farm Stand Rulemaking Fact Sheet
- 2025 Farm Stand Rulemaking draft language (7/18/25)
- 2025 Farm Stand Rulemaking Website (in the “Regarding farm stands in exclusive farm use zones and agri-tourism” accordion)
- Provide comment on the 2025 Farm Stand Rulemaking by emailing farmfores...@dlcd.oregon.gov
If you see other ways our office can be helpful, or have additional questions, please be in touch.
Best,
Pam
From: Paul Sheldon <ex...@thecrestatwillowwitt.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 24, 2025 12:34 PM
To: farmfores...@dlcd.oregon.gov
Cc: Sen Golden <Sen.Jef...@oregonlegislature.gov>; Rep Marsh <Rep.Pa...@oregonlegislature.gov>
Subject: Please Stop the DLCD Farm Stand Rule Changes
CAUTION: This email originated from outside the Legislature. Use caution clicking any links or attachments.
Dear DLCD Staff and Commissioners,
I am writing to strongly oppose the proposed rule changes to farmstands and agritourism in EFU zones. These changes would devastate small farms and community food systems across Oregon. Farmstands and agritourism are not just economic lifelines, they are vital cultural, educational, and agricultural touchpoints for Oregonians.
We urge you to stop or significantly revise this proposal. Do not limit the very activities that help small farms survive.
Sincerely,
Paul Sheldon
The Crest at Willow-Witt Ranch
Ashland, Jackson County
--
Paul Sheldon (he/el/they)
Executive Director
The CREST
(541) 613-4119 (direct/text)
501(c)(3) EIN 82-2665900
Oregon Registry #1356152-92
Oregon BIN 01840890-1
CREST:
C reate Community in Conservation
R eciprocity, Respect, and Resilience
E quity through Education
S tewardship, Restoration, and Regeneration
T rust.
Willow-Witt Ranch is located within the ancestral homelands of the Shasta, Takelma, Athabaskan, and Latgawa peoples who lived here since time immemorial. These Tribes were displaced during rapid Euro-American colonization, the Gold Rush, and armed conflict between 1851 and 1856. In the 1850s, the discovery of gold and settlement brought thousands of Euro-Americans to their lands, leading to warfare, epidemics, starvation, and villages being burned. In 1853 the first of several treaties were signed, confederating these Tribes and others together - who would then be referred to as the Rogue River Tribe. These treaties ceded most of their homelands to the United States, and in return they were guaranteed a permanent homeland reserved for them. At the end of the Rogue River Wars in 1856, these Tribes and many other Tribes from western Oregon were removed to the Siletz Reservation and the Grand Ronde Reservation. Today, the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon (https://www.grandronde.org) and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians (http://www.ctsi.nsn.us/) are living descendants of the Takelma, Shasta, and Latgawa peoples of this area. We encourage YOU to learn about the land you reside on, and to join us in advocating for the inherent sovereignty of Indigenous people. We also acknowledge that Euro-American colonists excluded, marginalized, enslaved, tortured, and murdered many other descendants of slaves, darker-skinned people, Chinese and other Asian and Pacific Island immigrants, Mexican workers, and others. We cannot change these tragic events of the past, but we acknowledge them and invite you to join us in doing what we can to bring justice and equity to all, as we move together into a more resilient, inclusive, and just future.
El Rancho Willow-Witt se encuentra dentro de las tierras ancestrales de los pueblos Shasta, Takelma, Atabascano y Latgawa, quienes vivieron aquí desde tiempos inmemoriales. Estas tribus fueron desplazadas durante la rápida colonización euroamericana, la Fiebre
del Oro y el conflicto armado entre 1851 y 1856. En la década de 1850, el descubrimiento de oro y los asentamientos atrajeron a miles de euroamericanos a sus tierras, lo que provocó guerras, epidemias, hambruna e incendios de aldeas. En 1853 se firmó el primero
de varios tratados, uniendo a estas tribus y a otras, que luego se conocerían como la Tribu del Río Rogue. Estos tratados cedieron la mayor parte de sus tierras a Estados Unidos y, a cambio, se les garantizó una patria permanente reservada para ellos. Al final
de las Guerras del Río Rogue en 1856, estas tribus y muchas otras del oeste de Oregón fueron trasladadas a las Reservas Siletz y Grand Ronde. Hoy, las Tribus Confederadas de la Comunidad Grand Ronde de Oregón (https://www.grandronde.org)
y las Tribus Confederadas de los Indios Siletz (http://www.ctsi.nsn.us/) son descendientes vivos de los pueblos Takelma, Shasta y Latgawa de esta zona. Los animamos a
conocer la tierra que habitan y a unirse a nosotros para defender la soberanía inherente de los pueblos indígenas. Reconocemos también que los colonos euroamericanos excluyeron, marginaron, esclavizaron, torturaron y asesinaron a muchos otros descendientes
de esclavos, personas de piel oscura, inmigrantes chinos y de otras partes de Asia y las islas del Pacífico, trabajadores y inmigrantes mexicanos y otros. No podemos cambiar estos trágicos acontecimientos del pasado, pero los reconocemos y los invitamos a
unirse a nosotros para hacer todo lo posible por lograr justicia y equidad para todos, mientras avanzamos juntos hacia un futuro más resiliente, inclusivo y justo.