EVERETT — On Wednesday, County Council members voted on and passed unanimously regulations for the Snohomish County Food and Farming Center, planned for construction in McCollum Park near Mill Creek.
Fundraising will take place throughout 2026, according to Rachel Dotson, Park Planning Supervisor for the Snohomish County Conservation & Natural Resources Office, during a public hearing July 16. Contract workers will begin phase one construction in 2027.
The project has successfully secured $15 million, spokesperson Meghan Jordan said. The county is now seeking other funding sources, including private-public partnerships. The total amount needed is currently unknown.
On July 16, an initial public hearing took place to vote on the Food and Farming Center regulations. However, some council members expressed apprehension.
Council member Megan Dunn said it would be beneficial to clarify the verbiage to include food trucks as a possible use of the food center.
She pointed to the phrase “commercial kitchens” in the regulations possibly excluding food trucks, she said.
Also, council member Sam Low stated that the regulations gave the impression that farmers were required to use the Food and Farming Center and limited their options on their property.
Low had a conversation with Director Tom Teigen after the hearing, which raised his confidence, he said in an interview.
“I appreciate our conversation,” Low said during the public hearing on Wednesday. “Just making sure that the public is not having any changes because of this.”
Also on Wednesday, Legislative Analyst Ryan Hembree presented an amendment that added language to include commissary kitchens, which includes food trucks. Dunn expressed her gratitude.
“I’ll just express appreciation for willingness to connect with the Health Department and others to create this amendment and make the area more useful. So thank you,” she said.
The County Council voted to pass the regulations 5-0.
Requests from farmers initiated the planning of a food and farming center in 2009 after a study titled “A Community Vision for Sustainable Agriculture in Snohomish County” identified processing, aggregation and distribution as key infrastructure needs in Snohomish County.
The center will provide equipment to enable farmers to wash, dice and package fresh produce. It also allows distribution to consolidate in one place, so multiple small farmers can combine orders into fewer trucks, County Agriculture Coordinator Linda Neunzig said in November 2024 during a public presentation.
“If we could aggregate it all in one spot,” she said, “we reduce the number of trucks on the road, but as farmers it also gets us back on the farm where we have things to do.”
A commercial kitchen allows members of the public to produce food goods in larger quantities and with more sanitary facilities than a home might have, Neunzig said. It would also allow for experimentation.
“We want it to be an incubator that helps new farmers grow,” Neunzig said. “It’s chefs coming in saying, ‘I have an idea for one of my favorite recipes that I want to be able to make and sell.’”
The center will host a year-round farmer’s market — a space for farmers to generate income and spark expansion outside of usual crop growth windows, Neunzig said.
The center still needs to apply for its environmental permits and will continue public engagement regarding the building, playground replacement that construction will remove and other areas of McCollum Park, Jordan said.
The space will be open to all farmers from Whatcom, Snohomish and North King Counties.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the phrase “commissary kitchens” replaced “commercial kitchens” in an amendment to the regulations. The phrase “commercial kitchens” remains in the code, while additional language includes commissary kitchens and a corresponding definition to match the Health Department’s definition.
Taylor Scott Richmond: 425-339-3046; taylor.richmond@heraldnet.com; X: @BTayOkay
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