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Bill Zimmerman, owner of Bi-Zi Farms in Vancouver, Wash., has seen a lot of growth in the last 30 years, but not in crop production. Rather, it has been residential development.

For the first time in the farm鈥檚 140-year history, congestion is a problem.

鈥淓specially troublesome was on the back country roads that were never intended to have that much traffic on them,鈥� Zimmerman said. 鈥淎ll of a sudden you have thousands of trips a day, and small narrow shoulders, and there鈥檚 almost nowhere to go with a big combine or tractor.鈥�

Approximately 30 homes surround Zimmerman鈥檚 farm and a major subdivision sits not far south.

Now, as planners continue to favor urban sprawl, farms are being squeezed into smaller, less productive spaces. Farming advocates say change is needed.

鈥�(Residents) complain about noise, dust from plowing and fertilizers used,鈥� said Tim Trohimovich, director of planning and law for environmental advocacy organization Futurewise. 鈥淪ome of those are well merited; the forestry companies shouldn鈥檛 dump fertilizers and pesticides on neighborhood residential properties. The problem is the houses shouldn鈥檛 be there. These are ag areas, forestry areas. We need to manage them for our important industries.鈥�

According to a rural lands assessment, performed by Seattle-based and released by Clark County鈥檚 long-range planning department in May, while the number of farms in Clark County increased 19 percent from 1997 to 2007, total crop output decreased almost 16 percent. Fueling that decline was a decrease in the number of commercial and midsize farms and an increase in the number of farms with fewer than 50 acres.

Zimmerman felt the squeeze 16 years ago, when he decided to transition his commercial grain and seed crop farm into a small, direct-to-market, tourist-oriented operation. Today, his 90-acre plot 鈥� which his family has been tending since 1872 鈥� has a pumpkin patch, a corn maze and a petting zoo.

On one hand, close residential neighborhoods present potential customers. But he also receives complaints about noise and dust pollution. Zimmerman looks at Oregon鈥檚 comprehensive land-use laws and wishes Washington had similar ones.

鈥淚t was probably a tough pill to swallow when you look at what Oregon did,鈥� he said in reference to its landmark land-use planning legislation. 鈥�(But) you look at how Oregon is coming out of it now 30 years later and you say, 鈥極K. It was probably the right thing to do.鈥� 鈥�

The Sightline Institute recently compared sprawl in rural areas on the Washington and Oregon sides of the Portland metropolitan area.

According to a July report, more than 60 percent of new homes built outside urban growth areas in the entire four-county area from 2000 to 2010 were in Clark County. The number of housing units outside the county鈥檚 urban growth area increased 18 percent in that span to 21,382. This occurred despite the fact that Clark County represented less than 30 percent of the total new housing stock in metro Portland.

鈥淭o me, what that shows is that 鈥� sprawl isn鈥檛 inevitable,鈥� said Clark Williams-Derry, the author of the report. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not something that just happens and you can鈥檛 control it. It鈥檚 really the result of policy choices.鈥�

Part of the reason for Clark County鈥檚 urban sprawl, however, is that it is nearly 20 years behind Oregon in adoption of comprehensive land-use laws. The Washington State Growth Management Act wasn鈥檛 passed until 1990 and Clark County鈥檚 first comprehensive plan didn鈥檛 go online until about 1994.

Marty Snell, planning director for Clark County鈥檚 community development department, said that before the county鈥檚 comprehensive plan went into effect, many landowners saw the writing on the wall and scrambled to subdivide their properties before law prevented them.

鈥淭here was a massive rush of large lot land divisions that were created 鈥� five-acre lots galore,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd that happened before the adoption of the first growth management development regulation, which was really in 1995.鈥�

He said the county is still dealing with many of those grandfathered applications today.

Gordy Euler, a Clark County planner and the project manager for the rural lands assessment, said another issue for the county is that Vancouver鈥檚 urban growth area is actually much larger than the city itself and overlaps with rural areas. That supports a higher degree of development on rural lands.

Clark County is expected to grow. Its population is estimated at 431,251, according to the Washington State Office of Financial Management, and is projected to reach 600,000 by 2024. Euler, however, said sprawl in Clark County comes down to philosophy.

鈥淒ensity is not something that is particularly thought highly of over here,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 mean density is not really in the planning vocabulary on this side of the river.鈥�

Anne Lawrence, owner of Storytree Farm, a small one in Vancouver, said a big problem is that some property owners without agricultural production plans hold farmland, waiting for it to be rezoned for development. Her own property has been rezoned three times since 1990 and is now designated residential.

In addition, she said, owners holding farmland get huge tax breaks via the state鈥檚 current-use tax deferral program, which shifts property taxes away from agriculture-producing lands. Euler said Clark County uses that program more than any other county in the state and that the value of land in the program is worth $1 billion 鈥� but it鈥檚 taxed as if it were worth only $17 million.

Meanwhile, agricultural production is decreasing. Zimmerman thinks the county needs a clear direction for growth and Euler said his department is trying to start a conversation with residents about how best to proceed.

鈥淲e won鈥檛 make wholesale changes to the rural areas in terms of throwing out the map and starting over, but the idea is to try and say, 鈥榃ell, if farmland is important, we鈥檝e got to figure out how we鈥檙e going to save it 鈥� or save some of it,鈥� 鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd those conversations are yet to come.鈥�

Farmers like Zimmerman and Lawrence actually saw residential development stall around them during the recession. However, as the economy begins to rebound, Lawrence is worried about what could follow.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a great boon, the economic collapse of 鈥�08,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he developers who were knocking on our doors have sort of stopped for the last couple of years. That鈥檚 been good. But you know, when the economy comes back, I hope it doesn鈥檛 come back with a vengeance 鈥� because you know, once you build a house it鈥檚 likely you鈥檙e not going to tear it down and build a farm.鈥�