Productive farmland is an irreplaceable and limited resource in Thurston County. Therefore,
it is essential to preserve agricultural land, particularly those lands which are
adjacent to an urban growth area, by limiting this district to agricultural uses and
activities, discouraging agricultural nuisance claims from nonfarm areas, and protecting
these lands from encroachment of existing or potential residences within the Nisqually
Valley and along the adjacent wooded hillsides. The primary use within this zone will
be agricultural activities and this zone meets the long-term agricultural lands criteria
for the state Growth Management Act. The standards of this zone are unique to the
Nisqually planning area and this zone is applied to those lands within the Nisqually
planning area which: (1) contain large farms on primary agricultural soil, (2) have
been farmed for several generations; or (3) are enrolled in or eligible for enrollment
in the Agricultural Open Space Tax Program.
