Carson Valley looks to integrate residential, agricultural spaces into ‘Agrihoods’
Douglas County has multiple priority projects on the books right now, including education innovation, distinctive downtowns, becoming an aviation destinations and more, but one in particular has it’s roots set firmly in the Carson valley’s history of agriculture, and that is "Agrihoods."
Agrihood, a combination of Agriculture and Neighborhood, is “an organized community that integrates agriculture into a residential neighborhood to facilitate food production while providing open space, activities and an ag lifestyle for members of the community,” according to the Agrihood literature.
The first developments in the Carson Valley were farms and ranches due to the excellent agriculture opportunities provided by the wide open valleys and foothills along the Sierra Nevadas. However, Douglas County farm land has decreased over 50 percent since 1945.
According to Douglas County, 70 parent of Carson Valley ranches and farms are not profitable. An agrihood could, they say, help overcome the financial challenges of passing an agriculture property to a new generation.
The idea of development would be to cluster housing in specific areas of the development, while leaving a large portion of the development as open space for agricultural or ranch use, similarly to a golf course. But instead of the open space being used for golfing, it would instead be a professionally operated farm in which residents could participate, should they desire.
The “Agrihood Interest Group” was formed in Feb 2019 in order to study the agricultural-neighborhood hybrid trend, and along the way they studied 11 Agrihood projects and have visited three sites.
The closest Agrihoods to our area are located near Sacramento (in development), Idaho (in development), and Washington (complete).
In addition to potentially creating a healthier, happier, less dependent community, Douglas County also believes that Agrihoods are advantageous to developers, due to lower cost of development and lower land costs. In addition, they say, there are higher sale values for lots and homes, faster sales absorption, and they can “leverage community good will,” according to a presentation given to the Minden Rotary in Dec. of 2018.
Going hand in hand with the idea of returning to historical roots, Douglas County also discusses the “Douglas County Specialty Crop Block Grant Project,” which would provide for the expansion, production, and use of speciality crops in Douglas County, such as fruits and nuts, vegetables, culinary herbs and spices, medicinal herbs, horticulture, annual bedding plants, and more.
Currently, there are 50,000 acres of “prime farmland” in Douglas County, according to their grant presentation, but only 22 acres are listed in specialty crops. Douglas County hopes to further identify opportunities to expand specialty crops, going hand in hand with Agrihoods, in order to become less dependent on outside food sources.
To learn more about Douglas County’s prospective Agrihood plans, click here.
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