- Zoning Ordinances Create Headaches
for Farm Marketers
- By Jeffrey Carter
Ontario Correspondent
- A farm family decides to broaden their marketing options by retailing what they grow. Their farm is located along a busy highway, so they open a roadside stand. To their surprise, sales are far beyond what they expected.
With pride, they set up a large retail building with the idea of marketing produce from neighbors in addition to their own. Then they add a petting zoo, hayrides, and a harvest festival. The crowds increase.
That’s when the municipality steps in. A complaint has been made. It’s recognized that zoning ordinances are not being met. The enterprise grinds to a halt, caught in a web of red tape.
The story is not unfamiliar to North American direct farm marketers. While many farm-based retail and entertainment enterprises face few municipal restrictions, others have seen operations curtailed or have had to conform with costly ordinances.
The solution, according to the facilitator of a workshop at the North America Farmers’ Direct Marketing Association (NAFDMA) conference in Toronto, Ontario, is to take a proactive stance. Mark Schnepf led a discussion of direct farm marketers and municipal government representatives from across the United States and Canada on Jan. 18.
Schnepf and his wife Carrie, president of NAFDMA, farm and run a retail and entertainment business at Queen Creek, Ariz., a town of about 6,000. The couple have a wealth of experience dealing with their municipality and neighbors.
Schnepf suggests that farmers involved in the retail and entertainment agriculture design a forward-looking but flexible plan. It’s helpful to acquire an aerial view of your property to begin the design process.
Consider what type of zoning you’ll need for your property and acquire the municipal zoning code, Schnepf says. You may find that the municipality has not addressed your particular situation. Restrictions affecting your property may be in place. It’s even possible that the activity you wish to pursue can go ahead with a minimal amount of fuss.
If there’s a need for change to accommodate your business, find a champion, an elected official, a municipal employee, or both. It may also become necessary to hire a professional planner and a zoning attorney, Schnepf says.
“You really need to find an ally. You need to sit down with these people and explain a few things. You need to be able to explain what contribution you will be making to the local community and economy,” Schnepf says.
In addition, give examples of farm businesses similar to your own that are operating successfully. With a logical stance backed up with facts, you can foster support within your municipality.
In addition, explain your own situation and the situation facing the larger farm community. Arizona is like many other areas in North America, Schnepf says. Farmers are struggling. At the same time, there’s a desire within both the urban and rural communities to maintain the current look of the countryside.
“We as farmers need to have new uses for our property. The agricultural economy is so bad - around the world, frankly - that farm families have having problems making it work,” Schnepf says.
“As direct marketers we are working outside of the box. It’s a new hybrid type of operation... Many of us starting to bend the rules... It begins with minor or unobtrusive things and then we add more and more to our farm and eventually we may get a complaint or realize that we have so much invested that we want to make sure we’re okay so we are not shut down.”
It’s also important to foster support from your immediate neighbors, Schnepf says. Explain your plans to them and go out of your way to welcome them to your farm.
“You may find that they become the strongest advocates of your farm.”
Participating in the workshop were farmers from across North America and two employees with the town of Caledon, a rural municipality just north of Toronto, Ontario.
Senior policy planner Marsha Paley and zoning administrator Brian Lauder offered a different perspective. The two say they often find themselves caught between opposing interests. Farmers looking to establish direct sales can have strong arguments but so can others who may oppose such operations.
Lauder and Paley are in the midst of developing a policy for Caledon, governing farm retail, entertainment, education and tourism operations. They’re working with John Downey of Downey’s Farm Market whose operation is the first of its kind in the municipality.
Lauder and Paley are looking to establish parameters. There may be a point at which such enterprises are no longer defined as being agricultural, they suggest.
During the discussion that followed Lauder and Paley’s comments, it was said that if an entire farm is filled with amusement rides, it is no longer a farm. On the other hand, it may be that amusement activities on another farming operation simply subsidize traditional farming activities.
“There’s a fine line that has to be drawn and a need to be flexible at the same time and that’s a difficulty for a planner,” Paley says.
It did not take long for Lauder and Paley to discover they were seated in a room with people who are passionate about their farm retail and entertainment businesses.
“The nature of agriculture is changing from what it was in the past,” explained Lowell Schaper who farms near Minneapolis, Minn.
“I know in our area when they talk about agriculture, they’re talking about corn and soybeans and wheat. When we talk about agriculture, we’re talking about entertainment to sell our products.”
There are over 700 farm enterprises with NAFDMA membership. “We would like our organization (NAFDMA) to help educate the people in power,” said Buddy Raasch of Liberty, Mo.
“It took me 30 years to build my farming operation. In a matter of seven years the entertainment business is rivaling it. I used to tell my kids not to farm. Now I’m thinking differently. Farming can still be a good life,” Rasch said.
