More room for family.
More ways to stay rooted.
A more attainable way home.
Rural Family Homesteads is a proposal for more long-term family housing on qualifying rural land in Clallam County. Learn how it could work, share your experience, and join a growing conversation about the future of rural family housing.
Land to share. Few ways to live together.
A family can own rural land and still struggle to make a place for adult children, aging parents, or the next generation to build an independent home.
Without a workable way to create another home nearby, adult children or aging parents may have to look farther away from the people and community they want to stay close to. Rural Family Homesteads (RFH) proposes another option for eligible land: a limited number of additional long-term homes based on acreage, with a shared plan for access, infrastructure, and land use.
Start with family land—or buy land together.
The proposal is meant to work for families with rural acreage today and for related households who want to establish a place together. In either case, the property would first need to qualify, and each home would need the required permits and infrastructure.
Build on land the family already owns
A family with a qualifying rural parcel could plan additional, independent homes for adult children, parents, or other family members. The land could remain one larger property while each household has a home of its own and a clear stake in what it builds.
For example, parents could remain in their home while an adult child builds nearby, subject to the parcel's allowed capacity and all applicable approvals.
Purchase qualifying land together
Related households could pool their resources to buy an eligible property. They could share the cost of acquiring the land and establishing access, water, utilities, and other infrastructure, then build their respective homes over time.
Sharing the purchase and infrastructure costs could make a homesite more attainable for each household and give the whole family a place to put down roots.
Capacity that follows acreage
The proposed tiers offer a starting point for County review. “HR” means an additional Homestead Residence. Final capacity, home size, eligible zones, and setbacks would be set through public planning and legal review.
| Target acreage tier | Working residential capacity | General exterior building setback |
|---|---|---|
| 5 acres | Principal home + 1 HR | 30 ft |
| 7.5 acres | Intermediate capacity to be refined | 30 ft |
| 10 acres | Principal home + 2 HRs | 40 ft |
| 20 acres | Principal home + 3 HRs | 50 ft |
| 40 acres | Proportional capacity to be refined | 75 ft |
| 80+ acres | Proportional capacity to be refined | 100 ft |
The draft proposes a narrow acreage tolerance: 4.75 acres for the 5-acre tier and up to 0.50 acre below higher thresholds. Ordinary ADU rights are governed separately. Underlying zoning, buffers, and any greater setback still apply. Actual buildability depends on site conditions and permits.
Families and working forestland
RFH proposes a path for legally established Commercial Forest parcels of at least 19 acres. The land would keep its Commercial Forest designation, and new homes would stay at least 130 feet from the property boundary. The goal is to make room for family without turning the whole parcel into residential land.
A professional forest stewardship and wildfire mitigation plan would guide care for the entire property. Fire safety work needed around new homes and their access routes would be completed before those homes are occupied; longer-term forest improvements could follow the plan’s schedule.
Keep the rural landscape in view
RFH is designed to add homes without making a rural road feel like a row of new subdivisions. Larger setbacks would place new buildings farther from the outer property lines. One shared entrance from the public road would be the usual approach, with driveways branching inside the parcel rather than adding a separate road approach for every home.
Homes would be planned within defined areas so the rest of the acreage can remain predominantly rural in character. The vision is a family homestead that fits into the landscape, with room for trees, open space, and the land uses already there.
More homes, with clear limits.
Additional long-term housing would come with safeguards recorded against the property and reviewed as homes are developed.
- Shared public-road access by default, with site-specific safety exceptions.
- Water, septic, critical-area, building, fire, and emergency access requirements still apply.
- No short-term vacation rentals in bonus Homestead Residences.
- Limited non-family long-term rental use under a working proposal.
- Recorded status and enforceable limits on investor or speculative use.
- Phase construction over time while proving capacity and securing permits for each phase.
A housing idea worth exploring together.
RFH starts with a simple question: how can families create independent homes on rural land while protecting the landscape and meeting real infrastructure and safety requirements? The working framework gives neighbors, professionals, and decision makers something specific to discuss and improve.
An open, constructive effort
Supporting the idea means recognizing a need for more options and helping shape a workable approach. The acreage tiers and technical provisions are starting points, not settled rules.
Residents, property owners, builders, lenders, fire officials, and conservation voices all have useful questions to bring to that review.
What RFH would mean
Is this already allowed in Clallam County?
No. RFH is a policy concept submitted for evaluation. The County would have to decide whether and how to establish a legal pathway through its planning and development regulations.
Would every rural parcel qualify?
No. Eligibility would require both sufficient acreage and a zoning designation the County affirmatively finds compatible. Site constraints may reduce what can actually be built.
Would this bypass well or septic rules?
No. Every home would need lawful, physically adequate water and wastewater service. Shared systems could trigger state and local review; Dungeness Water Rule requirements remain applicable where they apply.
Does a family have to already own acreage?
No. RFH includes a path for related households to pool their resources, purchase qualifying land together, share the land and infrastructure costs, and build their own homes.
Could each household finance its own home?
That is a central goal of RFH. One possible arrangement is for a family trust or other family ownership structure to hold the land. Each household could then have a long-term, recorded lease for its homesite and own the house it builds there. A long-term lease gives that household the right to use a defined part of the property for many years, even though the larger parcel remains together.
The household could seek a loan secured by its lease rights and home, instead of requiring the entire family property to secure one person’s mortgage. Families could also explore other shared ownership arrangements. The proposal calls for options that allow each household to build equity and pursue financing while keeping the land intact; the specific arrangements would be established as the policy develops.
Would this create a vacation rental compound?
No. The proposal would prohibit short-term rental use of additional Homestead Residences and limit non-family long-term rental use.
Could RFH help your family or community?
Explore the idea, tell us what it could mean for you, and stay connected as the proposal develops. Real experiences and thoughtful questions will help shape what comes next.
Share your story
Would another long-term home help your family stay near one another? Tell us what barrier you face, where in Clallam County you live, and what a workable policy should protect.
Send your story →Share the idea
Talk with family, neighbors, and others who care about rural housing. Share what resonates, what concerns you, and what protections would make the concept stronger.
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Join updates about the proposal, community conversations, revised drafts, and opportunities to participate. Request to receive occasional email updates as the proposal develops.
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