7620 Portland Rd, Salem, OR 97305

Exclusive Farm Use District

The purpose of the EFU exclusive farm use zone is to provide areas for continued practice of commercial agriculture. It is intended to be applied in those areas composed of tracts that are predominantly high-value farm soils as defined in OAR 660-033-0020(8). These areas are generally well suited for large-scale farming. It is also applied to small inclusions of tracts composed predominantly of non-high-value farm soils to avoid potential conflicts between commercial farming activities and the wider range of non-farm uses otherwise allowed on non-high-value farmland. Moreover, to provide the needed protection within cohesive areas it is sometimes necessary to include incidental land unsuitable for farming and some pre-existing residential acreage.; To encourage large-scale farm operations the EFU zone consolidates contiguous lands in the same ownership when required by a land use decision. It is not the intent in the EFU zone to create, through land divisions, small-scale farms. There are sufficient small parcels in the zone to accommodate those small-scale farm operations that require high-value farm soils. Subdivisions and planned developments are not consistent with the purpose of this zone and are prohibited.; To minimize impacts from potentially conflicting uses it is necessary to apply to non-farm uses the criteria and standards in OAR 660-033-0130 and in some cases more restrictive criteria are applied to ensure that adverse impacts are not created.; The EFU zone is also intended to allow other uses that are compatible with agricultural activities, to protect forests, scenic resources and fish and wildlife habitat, and to maintain and improve the quality of air, water and land resources of the county.