Join us for one (or more) of four initial open houses to ask questions and share your thoughts! All are welcome to attend any of the open houses; there will be two open houses with a broad focus (Garden Valley & Pollock Pines), and two that are more agriculturally aligned (Somerset & TBD). Your input could help shape how these programs may be offered in our community. Click here(PDF, 4MB) for upcoming open house information.

Please see the linked materials for additional information on agricultural lodging and related topics. All materials will be available as a physical copy at each open house: 

El Dorado County Agricultural Lodging Overview(PDF, 81KB)  

El Dorado County Common Temporary Lodging Types Fact Sheet(PDF, 121KB)  

Currently, agricultural zoned properties that wish to offer agricultural lodging as a guest experience must meet the minimum requirements for the Williamson Act (whether the property is under an active conservation contract or not). The linked materials below provide more information about the Williamson Act and the process of determination for minimum contract qualifications in El Dorado County: 

California Department of Conservation Williamson Act Overview(PDF, 107KB)

California State Association of Counties Williamson Act Brief(PDF, 11MB)

El Dorado County Williamson Act Suitability Qualifications(PDF, 294KB)

The open houses will have materials on permitting processes and requirements for agricultural lodging and relevant zoning information. There will also be information about the current permitting process for commercial campgrounds in the County, which are permissible with certain permits specific to allowable zones (low impact camping is not currently permitted in the County): 

El Dorado County Permit Types and Definitions(PDF, 59KB)  

El Dorado County Agricultural Lodging Permissibility Table(PDF, 72KB) (Zoning Code Sec. 130.40.170 - Lodging Facilities) 

El Dorado County Commercial Campground Permissibility(PDF, 42KB) (Summary)

El Dorado County Established Agricultural, Rural and Resource Zones(PDF, 62KB)  

The open houses will have materials about low impact camping; how it differs from traditional commercial campgrounds and information about the State's low impact camping program (AB 518): 

Low Impact Camping Fact Sheet(PDF, 86KB)  

California Department of Housing and Community Development AB 518 Bulletin(PDF, 184KB)

HipCamp is an online platform that works with wineries, farms and private property owners to advertise their permitted low impact camping rental sites in Counties that have adopted a low impact camping ordinance. They are a vocal advocate for low impact camping and have provided participant/customer testimonials, case studies and fire code tools which have assisted other California Counties in developing regulations to enforce fire safety within their adopted low impact camping ordinances: 

HipCamp AB 518 Case Study(PDF, 4MB)  

HipCamp Participating Properties Case Study(PDF, 43MB)  

HipCamp Fire Safety Fact Sheet(PDF, 2MB)  

Each open house will have local zoning maps available depicting surrounding agricultural and rural zones. Property specific information can also be found using the interactive El Dorado County GIS map, which is free to use and can provide zoning details by searching addresses or parcel numbers within unincorporated El Dorado County. 

Garden Valley Open House 10/27/2026 (Garden Valley and surrounding communities) 

Agricultural zones GIS map(PDF, 667KB)  

Rural lands zone GIS map(PDF, 681KB)

Sommerset Open House 11/10/2026 (Sommerset and surrounding communities) 

Coming soon, check again later!

Pollock Pines Open House 11/18/2026 (Pollock Pines and surrounding communities) 

Coming soon, check again later!