LEGAL STUFF: WHAT'S HAPPENING & HOW YOU CAN HELP
WHAT’S GOING ON BY VFF’S LAWYER AMY MANZELLI, ESQ.
HOW THIS BEGAN IN 2022
The Newfields Selectboard and Planning Board have said that members of the public have expressed concern and asked questions about Vernon Family Farm’s agritourism events, VFF’s new agritourism structure (the pavilion), and whether the farm is complying with the requirement that at least 35% of sales from its farm store be from its own products.
SELECTBOARD MEETING ON AUGUST 9, 2022
At the August 9, 2022 Selectboard meeting, VFF agreed to apply for limited site plan approval so the Planning Board, and through them the town at large, could have up to date information about agritourism at the farm. VFF also agreed to coordinate with the Town Planner to try to develop a method to show the farm follows the 35% requirement because the Selectboard wanted more than the Vernons’ and the Vernons’ attorney’s testimony that the farm was complying.
35% OF FARM STORE SALES
The Vernons and the town then agreed to have the Vernons’ Certified Public Accountant review VFF’s financial records and produce a letter certifying compliance with the 35% requirement. The Vernons submitted the letter on 9/14/22. It documents 41.72% of sales to date this year were from the Farm’s products. At the Planning Board meeting on October 13, 2022, the Commissioner of Agriculture testified to the Planning Board that the law does not authorize the Board to require the farm to prove they are complying with the 35% requirement. He said the Vernons were going above and beyond. That should close out this compliance question. We hope the Planning Board will agree at their next meeting.
WHAT IS AGRITOURISM?
Agritourism is a type of marketing. It means “attracting visitors to a farm to attend events or activities that are accessory uses to the primary farm operation, including, but not limited to, being provided a meal, making overnight stays, enjoyment of the farm environment, education which shall be instruction or learning about the farm's operations, or active involvement in the activities of the farm.” The state law this definition comes from is RSA 21:34-a, II(b)(5). It is a subsection of the state law that defines “agriculture,”. By law, “’agriculture’ and ‘farming’ mean all operations or activities of a farm, including…[a]ny practice or activity on the farm incident to, ancillary to, or in conjunction with such farming operations, including, but not necessarily restricted to … marketing.” And, as noted above, marketing includes agritourism.
LIMITED SITE PLAN REVIEW
Many NH laws provide special protections to farming. One of them is RSA674:32-b, II, which states that when a farm has agritourism that is significantly expanded, the farm can be subject to site plan review, but only to make sure to “prevent traffic and parking from adversely impacting adjacent property, streets and sidewalks, or public safety.”
Vernon Family Farm has been doing agritourism activities since its inception in 2014. The farm constructed the first phase of its pavilion in 2021 according to the town-issued building permit and the Town Building Inspector inspected it. VFF then hired a contractor to build the second phase in 2022 without a building permit after the Town Building Inspector told the Farm no permit was needed because the structure would be used for agritourism.
So, after all of this, Vernon Family Farm did not consider itself to need site plan approval for its agritourism events or the agritourism structure. At the Planning Board meeting on October 13, 2022, the Commissioner of Agriculture testified to the Planning Board that Vernon Family Farm had not had a “significant expansion” and therefore did not need to do site plan review. He, again, said the Vernons were going above and beyond.
Nevertheless, the Vernons remain committed to completing the site plan process along the lines of the conditions of approval discussed during the October 13, 2022 meeting so the Planning Board, and through them the town at large, can have the most up to date information about Vernon Family Farm agritourism. However, it is a limited site plan review, limited to making sure the agritourism events and pavilion “prevent traffic and parking from adversely impacting adjacent property, streets and sidewalks, or public safety.” To the Planning Board’s credit, Vernon Family Farm is grateful the Planning Board granted a waiver from the site plan review regulations that are about topics other than preventing traffic and parking from adversely impacting adjacent property, streets and sidewalks, or public safety.”
ABOUT AGRITOURISM BY THE NH COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE SHAWN JASPER
Tourism is big business in NH and in several areas of the state it is their lifeblood. For a considerable number of NH farms, having an agritourism component will be the only way that they can survive. We have very few farms in NH which can simply produce a commodity and sell it from a farm stand or wholesale their products and actually see a return on the labor they put into the farm. I am grateful that the Legislature has recognized the importance of farms in NH and has passed laws that encourage farming and the preservation of our farmland. The laws in the area of agritourism also provide good protection for farms which need to bring people onto the farms and provide for activities that may not be directly related to what they do on the farm. However, those activities must also include a way to incorporate what is produced on the farm and encourage people to return to the farm to purchase products in the future.
I have spent more time this year dealing with towns and the issue of agritourism than in the past four years combined. I think that the reasons are twofold; more farms are beginning to better understand the potential agritourism presents and more towns believe that they are losing some control over what is going on in their community. The reality is that the towns are not losing any control over things that should really matter to them. The Legislature has provided that all public health and safety issues (including traffic) remain under the jurisdiction of some level of government. What they have done, that many towns don’t like, is to give farms more ability to adjust their operations to the opportunities that present themselves. These changes can be done without having to go through costly and time-consuming site plan approvals for every change they make.
Like most things in life, there are some grey areas and there are always going to be people who try to take advantage of loopholes. I have to say that in the cases I have worked on I haven’t seen any abuses. I have also found that most of the towns have been reasonable to work with once they understand the law and what a farm is doing. The Legislature did leave a few things in the law open to interpretation, which is fine when people are being reasonable. I am working with one farm at the moment where the town isn’t being so reasonable. One of the issues is the requirement that at least 35% of what is sold in a farm stand be a product of the farms of the owner. That is always going to be problematic for farms that are trying to provide a wide selection of local products. Nothing in the law puts the onus on the owner to provide that information and I am fairly sure the Legislature does not want a town to have the right to audit a farmer’s books.
In my opinion, proving that the farm stand is abusing the law is on the town. Just like with any other law, it is not up to you to prove your innocence. However, how is a town to prove their case without looking at the books? This may be an area that needs some work. In the case I am involved in right now, I don’t think that there really is any question that the farm has gone above and beyond and provided a statement from their accountant that their sales are above the threshold. Yet, the Planning Board wants to ask questions of the accountant.
The other issue in this case is about what is a significant expansion. That is important because that is the level where site-plan review kicks in. In this case, the issue is over an open building which expands the refrigeration capacity of the farm and allows for cooking under a roof instead of using portable equipment. From what I have seen, what is being done doesn’t change what the farm was doing, but it does make it more efficient. The planning board is simply looking at the square footage of the building as compared to the farm stand. If only we could use “the reasonable man standard.” The problem seems to be that it is harder and harder to find a “reasonable man” (I know I should be saying “reasonable person”). As I stated to the planning board, to loud agreement by the capacity crowd, I wish we had a 100 more farms like this one in NH. What is going on at the farm is the perfect example of how a working farm has found a way to fill a community need and sell their products at agritourism events, all of this without negatively effecting neighbors or causing traffic or parking issues.
STATEMENT TO THE NEWFIELDS PLANNING BOARD ON 10/22/2022 BY JEREMIAH & NICOLE VERNON
Thank you to the planning board for providing advance notice for today's meeting and we appreciate your time and thoughtfulness on the issues we will be discussing today. Thank you to all the attendees who came here tonight to support our farm and family. We are truly grateful. It is folks like you that helped us get to where we are today and we could not and can not do it without you. Thank you.
Vernon Family Farm was founded in Newfields in 2014 after seven years of us searching for land in the SAU 16 district. You can imagine the thrill we had when we found farmland within walking distance of Nicole’s school, in a community with a wonderful elementary school for our three daughters to attend, a piece of land located near customers and other farms and farmland such as the Nichols Farm, Juniper Hill Farm, and Windroc Winery.
It was only after we purchased the farm that we learned of the significance of Littlefield, the geographic region of Newfields that was once and still is the agricultural hub of our community and our farm is located right in the heart of this historic section of Newfields. This history is not lost on us and we are honored to continue the legacy of the former farmers of this land. It’s our hope that this land can stay productive and be an open and positive community space for generations to come.
Vernon Family Farm is driven by passion.
It is a passion for local food and an open, welcoming, and thriving community that makes Vernon Family Farm what it is today, a farm that grows and sells food while creating a safe and welcoming space for community members to engage with the question, “Where does your food come from?” and the statement “Know Your Farmer.”
Big ag and big business have successfully hidden the food chain and the farmer from the public, thus creating a substantial knowledge divide between growers, consumers, and regulators. To sell the food we grow not only requires us to grow the actual food, but to also educate our community on what farming and food production actually looks like. In addition, federal subsidies and regulations have made it impossible for small growers to even come close to matching cheap, big ag prices.
Our point is, to compete with big ag and big business, local farmers are forced to develop unique ways to entice consumers to their farms and products and we are no different.
Agritourism is a fundamental and necessary part of many successful farms in New England.
This is why you see corn mazes, hay rides, sunflower mazes, petting zoos, farm dinners, farm stores, farm tours, and more offered at many of the farms in our community. Although many of us farmers would prefer to “simply” grow and sell food, it is often financially unsustainable to do so.
Beautiful moments happen when you invite and encourage the community to engage with the local food chain. At the dinners we serve at our farm, customers enjoy a piece of fried chicken while seated within 100 feet from where that animal was raised. Your senses are engaged, the sights, sounds, and smells are unique to place.
As one customer put it, “The setting is quintessential New England. Kudos to the Vernon Family for creating this wonderful New Hampshire venue.”
Many customers found us during COVID when many of our community members felt unsafe visiting traditional grocers. When we say we fed the community, we mean we fed the community. Our farm was a refuge for people during uncertain times.
One customer wrote, “My family loves this farm! We have been buying our chicken from them in bulk since 2020 when we saw meat shortages here in New Hampshire. Not only is the chicken fantastic, but the store is always stocked with a ton of great local products. We also love to walk around the farm on the paths created for this purpose, and enjoy seeing the animals living well. Thank you VFF!”
We grow and sell food.
To do this we hire twenty plus employees, raise thousands of animals, we serve goods from over 40 local farmers and makers in our store year round, we create value-added items such as rotisserie chicken, fried chicken, pot pies, soups, broths, and more. We host dinners and serve ready to eat meals. We welcome and encourage you to sit, slow down and look around. Walk the farm. See the animals. Ask questions. Engage with the knowledge that eating requires sacrifice and hard work.
Vernon Family Farm provides food security to our town, employs our neighbors, and invests hundreds of thousands of dollars in the local economy. We should be encouraged, celebrated and supported. We hope that at the conclusion of today’s meeting, we can return our focus to doing what we do best, growing food and creating community.
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP VFF!
1) Write an email to the Town of Newfields Planning Board.
Feel free to use this template, carefully delete everything in [brackets] and replace with your own words as per instructions in the brackets.
Dear Chair Couture and Members of the Planning Board,
[Say who you are, what town you live in, for example, My name is Amy Manzelli and my family and I live in Newfields, NH.]
[Say what your position is on the matter, for example, I support the Farm’s application and believe they are complying with the 35% requirement.]
[Say what you want the PB to do, for example, I write to ask you to please approve the application and find that the Farm is complying with the 35% requirement, and to do so very quickly at your next meeting.]
[Get into the details of why you have said everything above]
[Say something of gratitude, for example, Thank you for your time and attention to my input.]
[sign the letter]
SEND THE EMAIL TO:
Glenn Greenwood, Town Planning Consultant glennkgreenwood@gmail.com
And please cc: manzelli@nhlandlaw.com, info@vernonfamilyfarm.com, suemckinnon@newfieldsnh.gov
Emails should not be sent to individual Board members.
2) Donate to our GoFundMe to help with legal costs.
3) Come to a meeting!
THU, DECEMBER 8, 7pm, 2ND PLANNING BOARD MEETING at Newfields Town Hall
Want more info?
We encourage you to listen to the last ~20 minutes of the last town hall meeting! Start at minute 48 through 1.09, the end of the meeting. If it glitches, just refresh the page.
