Agriculture refers to all methods of livestock, crop, vegetation and soil management. These include, but are not necessarily limited to, the related activities of tilling, fertilizer application, soil preparation and maintenance, harvesting, and control of weeds, plant diseases and insect pests. Also included are animal husbandry practices associated with the feeding, housing, maintenance and marketing of animals such as beef cattle, milk cows, breeding stock, horses and poultry and their by-products. Farming infrastructure within this category includes, but is not limited to, storage facilities, feed lots, fences and ditches. Also included is local or minor farm product processing as contained in the zoning code.
Development means a use consisting of the construction or exterior alteration of structures; dredging; drilling; dumping; filling; removal of any sand, gravel, or minerals; bulkheading; driving of piling; placing of obstructions; or any project of a permanent or temporary nature which interferes with the normal public use of water and lands within shorelines jurisdiction.
Ordinary High Water Mark (OHWM): The mark on all lakes, streams and tidal waters, which is found by examining the beds and banks and ascertaining where the presence and action of waters are so common and usual, and so long continued in all ordinary years, as to mark upon the soil a character distinct from that of the abutting upland in respect to vegetation.
The following types of development shall not be considered shorelines substantial developments for purposes of this chapter and shall not be required to obtain a Shorelines Substantial Development Permit:
a. Any development of which the total cost or fair market value, whichever is higher, does not exceed $5,000, if such development does not materially interfere with the normal public use of the water or shorelines of the state.
b. Normal maintenance or repair of existing structures or developments, including damage by accident, fire, or elements.
c. Construction of the normal protective bulkhead common to single family residences.
d. Emergency construction necessary to protect property from damage by the elements; the emergency must be declared by the local jurisdiction.
e. Construction of a barn or similar agricultural structure within shorelines jurisdiction. NOTE: Building codes and associated permits still apply.
f. Construction and practices normal or necessary for farming, irrigation, and ranching activities, including agricultural service roads and utilities in shorelines jurisdictions, and the construction and maintenance of irrigation structures including, but not limited to, head gates, pumping facilities, and irrigation channels; provided that a feedlot of any size, all processing plants, all other activities of a commercial nature, or alteration of the contour of the wetlands by leveling or filling other than that which results from normal cultivation, shall not be considered normal or necessary for farming or ranching activities. A feedlot shall be an enclosure or facility used or capable of being used for feeding livestock hay, grain, silage, or other livestock feed, but shall not include land for growing crops or vegetation for livestock feeding and/or grazing, nor shall it include normal livestock wintering operations.
g. Operation, maintenance, or construction of canals, artificial waterways, drains, reservoirs, or other facilities that now exist or are hereafter created or developed as a part of an irrigation system for the primary purpose of making use of system waters, including return flow and artificially stored groundwater from the irrigation of lands. This does not include modification to any natural stream or wetland.
h. Operation and maintenance of any agricultural system of dikes, ditches, drains, or other facilities existing in 1975 (adoption date of Amended Shoreline Management Act), provided that any new development associated with said diking or drainage systems shall not be considered operation and maintenance under this exemption if it will (1) reclaim lands which are not being used for agricultural purposes at the time the development is proposed, (2) increase the level of protection provided, or (3) enlarge the land area for which protection is provided.