The farm has a rich history dating back 150 years when the county began operating a poor farm along the south side of Northeast 78th Street. The site was later used as a research and experimental farm by WSU Extension before transferring the property back to the county in 2008.
As part of the county’s master plan, Public Works was tasked with creating a business plan to improve the Heritage Farm’s financial stability and provide greater public access.
“We’re going to evaluate options … for changes to the way the facility is operated that seeks to achieve those goals,” David Stipe, the section manager for Planning and Development, told the council at its May 18 meeting.
Stipe said Public Works staff will be working with the council, consultants, the parks advisory board, a new steering committee and the public to create a draft sustainability plan. It will then be up to the county council to adopt the plan. The steering committee will include representatives from the county, WSU Clark County Extension, property owners, neighborhood associations, schools, businesses and the Cowlitz Tribe.
Medvigy suggested adding a regional organization like the Chamber of Commerce to the steering committee to represent business or tourism interests.
Other models
In developing the options, Parks and Lands Manager Rocky Houston said staff looked at several different models across the state and even looked at programs as far away as Michigan and New York. He said staff looked at fee structures, cost recovery, marketing, funding options and alternative nonprofit users, among others, to help defray costs.
“What I will say is that most of the models out there are heavily subsidized to meet those services,” Houston said.
Houston said that where the council sets the financial bar will determine which kinds of programs can be implemented. For example, if the council decides 100 percent of costs have to be recovered, Houston said that will limit community access.
Public Works Director Eva Haney said the solution may rely on a mix of uses.
“There’s a possibility of a hybridized approach. Depending on the balance, that has an impact on the dollars. The cost recovery aspect depends very heavily on the programming out there at the site. … That balance of services will connect, pretty directly, to that cost recovery aspect,” Haney said.
Requiring the farm to be financially self-sufficient may not be what’s best for the Heritage Farm, said Blair Wolfley of Friends of Heritage Farm.
“I don’t think they should count on the farm being self-sustaining. I think the farm’s best alternative for the future is for it to be a public asset that serves to benefit the people of Clark County in ways that have to do with … food production on the urban fringe,” Wolfley said.
Wolfley said he thinks the Heritage Farm would be better used as an education, research and demonstration park, rather than trying to make it a profitable business.
“I think the biggest production from the farm is going to be the development of people, of community, of people coming together around food and family, education and sense of place,” he said.
However, Wolfley said there are ways to help with the farm’s finances.
“If we set it up so that everyone that goes there has to pay a fee, I think it will defeat the purpose of the farm. That is one of bringing community together around production and education associated with food,” he said.
As for future uses, Haney said the council would also have to consider the trade-offs from those uses. For example, if the council decided to make the site into a park, it would increase public access but lose an agricultural resource in the community. Also, funds for the park would come from the Municipal Parks District levy rather than the general fund.
Another example would be a private-public partnership such as a restaurant, food market or tourist attraction. That would provide better cost recovery but reduce recreational public access, Haney said.
Other options, like expanding the community gardens or expanding access to research, would likely need to be subsidized or would restrict public access.
“That’s not likely to be public use because we can’t have kids running around science experiments,” Haney said. “You see it today. We have those big fences up, and it’s not necessarily fully open to the public.”
While Wolfley isn’t opposed to give more access to the public, he said some access will still need to be restricted.
“I think they certainly should consider expanded public access. However, that needs to be carefully thought through. It’s not a situation where you could have the gate open and people could come and go as they can in pretty much any park anywhere in Clark County. The key to this is it’s not a park, it’s a farm,” he said.
Leaving the farm open to the public could lead to damage or theft of growing crops and flowers, Wolfley noted.
“It could be set up for educational tours. It could be set up for volunteers to come and have work experiences there with respect to farming and food production. There could be a demonstration area where they show many different ways of growing tree fruits, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and vegetable plots,” he said.
Council Chair Karen Bowerman said she’s normally in favor of allowing commercial development, but not at the 78th Street Heritage Farm.
“I think that the shining star that Heritage Farm presents emanates from the research that is done there,” Bowerman said during the meeting. “It is a marvelous opportunity to show off the agriculture of this region. That is a tourist point for Vancouver that some people aren’t going to realize unless Heritage Farm is developed and developed to its potential for what we can do in this part of the country, agricultural-wise.”
Medvigy said he was in awe of Vancouver’s Columbia Springs environmental education center and suggested copying some of their programs.
“It’s a model I think we could emulate, not only opening it up to the public but also partnering with the school districts, with Fish and Wildlife and agricultural stakeholders for different funding streams,” Medvigy said.
Public Works will continue further research and refine options for the sustainability plan before a public meeting is held this fall. Additional public meetings will be held in spring and late summer in 2023. The council is anticipated to adopt the plan in fall 2023.
