The Board of Directors of Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland (SPF) filed an appeal of Skagit County’s State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) Determination for the relocation of Bay Baby Produce Inc.’s existing pumpkin painting and squash packing business currently located in Burlington Wa., to a proposed five-acre, 55,000 sq. ft. warehouse facility, to be built entirely on prime farmland near the Conway / I-5 Freeway Interchange and within the State’s only Agricultural Scenic Corridor.
The decision to appeal the County’s SEPA Determination did not come easy as SPF strongly supports the economic vitality of Skagit agriculture and is committed to the recruitment and expansion of businesses that support and add value to Skagit agriculture and the food and fiber produced here.
SPF has approached the project proponent to find opportunities to avoid, minimize, or mitigate the proposed project’s negative and irreversible impacts to our agricultural resources. As part of trying to find a win/win solution SPF has:
• Worked with partners to identify suitable sites for the proponent’s consideration that does not impact prime farmland.
• Offered to purchase the developments right(s) within the subject property.
• Offered to purchase the property in fee-simple.
The proposed five-acre Conway facility is a 55,000 sq. ft. warehouse building, the size of a Haggen Grocery store constructed entirely on top of prime farmland, next to a freeway interchange, and within the State’s only Agricultural Scenic Corridor. Bay Baby Produce Inc. is currently operating within the City of Burlington and is not part of an existing site-specific farming operation, so like all other non-farm based processors, could be located anywhere.
The proponent is proposing to build this five-acre warehouse facility without considering provisions to avoid, minimize or mitigate the project’s impact to the five-acres of farmland it will convert to a non-agricultural use, to the environment, or to the aesthetic and scenic resources of the State’s only designated Agricultural Scenic Corridor.
While the proponent is continuing to pursue building this five-acre warehouse facility without consideration of its impacts to our finite agricultural resources, SPF has a duty and responsibility to challenge the proposed project’s negative and irreversible impacts to farmland. With this appeal, SPF is asking Skagit County and the project proponent to take reasonable steps to minimize and/or to mitigate the project’s impact to prime farmland, the environment and to the aesthetic and scenic resources of the State’s only Agricultural Scenic Corridor.
We will continue to keep our door open to the project proponent with the desire that we can find opportunities to support the relocation of their pumpkin painting and squash packing business without sacrificing prime farmland. We don’t want to see the conversion of our remaining farmland and believe strongly there are viable and favorable alternatives that can provide a win/win solution.
We believe we can support the proponent’s desire to relocate their pumpkin painting and squash packing business, just not at the expense of prime farmland when reasonable alternatives are available to protect our agricultural land base.
Conceptual view produced by SPF of Bay Baby Produce’s proposed 55,000 sq. ft. warehouse facility from the north.
Conceptual view produced by SPF of Bay Baby Produce’s proposed 55,000 sq. ft. warehouse from the south.
Conceptual view produced by SPF of Bay Baby Produce’s 55,000 sq. ft. warehouse.
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