Agrivillage Adventure

Dave Boehnlein’s motivation was aspirational, practical and novel at the same time.

The co-founder and project manager at nonprofit Rooted Northwest spearheaded a plan to prevent the former 240-acre Tillman Dairy Farm in Arlington from being split for development. Rooted purchased the property and worked with county officials to preserve the farmland while also providing much-needed space for housing.

The result is the Rooted Northwest Agrivillage, a cohousing development that preserves more than 85% of the land for permanent farming, open space, and forest. Seventy homes are also planned, but are clustered more tightly than traditional zoning would have allowed. Without Rooted, the entire farm was in jeopardy of becoming a massive housing development. A golf course and motocross track were also mentioned.

Boehnlein and his wife are among the first residents. Simply put, he wants to live on land he also stewards.

“What I’m hoping is we can teach people how to do this for themselves if they want to be involved in farmland preservation and in creating this kind of a lifestyle,” says Boehnlein, who has operated his own permaculture company, Terra Phoenix Design, for 16 years. “But beyond a community garden, we want to support people who have farm livelihoods as well.”

Seattle is home to multiple cohousing communities. So-called “agrihoods,” however — planned communities that integrate agriculture into residential neighborhoods — are rare. Only about 200 exist in the United States.

Rooted Northwest’s journey was littered with obstacles. The nonprofit launched in a coffee shop in 2015 and shortly thereafter began hunting for land for a potential agrivillage. It eventually “stumbled” upon the dairy, which wasn’t on the market at the time, but the owners wanted the land preserved for farming. Rooted then had to work with Snohomish County officials (Boehnlein called them “very supportive”) to enact significant zoning changes.

“I think the most important thing to note is that the whole property was set up for one of two things,” Boehnlein says. “Either five-acre sort of McMansion parcels, which you can see in the nearby area, or a conventional rural development where you’d have probably a dozen clusters located all over the farm. Pretty much either scenario results in no longer a farm here.”

Phase one of the development features 40 homes and will break ground some- time this year. They range in size from two-bedroom townhomes to four-bed-room single-family homes. The home purchases fund the land and development costs, and Rooted is now seeking potential developers.

“Right now, our greatest need is to find the people who want to be here and want to join us for this vision,” Boehnlein says. “Join us for the adventure.”