Page 106 - Rural Tourism Report Washington County

CHAPTER 5: ASSESSMENT OF IMPACTS

This study considers tourism activities in the
County’s rural areas -- existing, developing, and
desired. One of the County’s goals was to evaluate

potential regulatory controls on tourism activities.
Understanding the nature of these activities and
the types of impacts they may generate is central
to regulating or guiding rural tourism in the
County. This Chapter, "Assessment of Impacts,"
will help inform decisions regarding appropriate
levels of rural tourism activity to allow.

The consulting team identified a range of activities
leading to potential impacts, developed a
framework for characterizing the related impacts,
and established a set of strategies to mitigate

the identified impacts. The assessment includes Photo courtesy of Horning's Hideout
an analysis of rural tourism’s potential impacts on existing rural infrastructure, nearby agricultural uses,
neighboring residents, and emergency services. It also identifies the type of mitigating strategies that may
be employed in the final regulatory framework to allow specific uses while controlling potential impacts.

Introduction Case Study Research

This impact assessment chapter relies on case As part of the larger study, County staff identified
study research, along with additional findings four local activity sites for inclusion in the impact
from other chapters, to characterize the tourism- assessment. These sites were selected based on their:
based activities currently in place, or likely to be • Geographic dispersion throughout the County;
requested, in Washington County. The goal was

to consider a range of activities (e.g. weddings, • Proximity to neighboring land uses;
concerts, etc.) under a variety of conditions (e.g. • Site access characteristics;
proximity to neighboring land uses, size of activity, • Range of tourism-based activities provided;
frequency of occurrence, etc). The case study • History of positively managing events and
research also highlighted management approaches activities; and
currently in place to eliminate or control potential
impacts. These inform the development of best • Willingness to participate in the project.
practices based on existing experience on the The project team approached potential case study
ground in Washington County. participants in advance, informing them of the
project and soliciting their participation in the impact
analysis. Appendix D presents the communications

conducted with potential participants.

102 WASHINGTON COUNTY RURAL TOURISM STUDY