Smith v. Clackamas County

Clackamas County denied petitioner’s request for permission to establish a nonfarm dwelling on seven acres zoned Exclusive Farm Use (EFU). The seven acres is part of petitioner’s 54-acre parcel so zoned but is separated from the remaining 47 acres by a county road. The 47 acres is planted in Christmas trees but the seven acres, a portion of which is wooded and steeply sloping, is not.

Clackamas County Zoning and Development Ordinance (ZDO) 402.05.A.4 permits a nonfarm dwelling on EFU land only if the dwelling:

“Is situated upon generally unsuitable land for the production of farm crops and…