Windsor Farm Bylaw Won't Make Town Warrant

By Noah Hoffenberg
iBerkshires Correspondent
08:10AM / Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Print | Email |

WINDSOR, Mass. — Farmers here almost had their shot at "equal rights," that is until a right-to-farm bylaw had its May town meeting slot yanked away by the cruel hand of ... forgetfulness.

A right-to-farm bylaw gives farmers the legal footing to protect their livelihoods from neighbors who take issue with the daily doings of agriculture. The proposed Windsor bylaw, drafted and approved earlier this year by the Agricultural Commission with minor adjustments from a state-approved model, was to be presented to the Selectmen on April 13.

But things did not go as planned, said commission member Kate Markowitz.

The problem, according to commission members Markowitz and Andrew Schmidt, is that the bylaw was supposed to be drafted in conjunction with the Planning Board. The freshman commission – less than a year old since being formed at last year's town meeting – had forgotten that the drafting was a process to be undertaken jointly. Schmidt is also a Planning Board member.

Said Schmidt, "All of us had totally forgotten that one stipulation."

"On the Monday that it was submitted, I got a call for the town offices saying that the Planning Board was there to discuss this and were very upset about it," said Markowitz, describing last week's meeting of the selectmen. "We didn't put it through the Planning Board, and we should have .... I apologized to the Planning Board."

Markowitz did qualify her apology, however, noting that a right-to-farm bylaw "is not a zoning bylaw. ... Historically, in practice it doesn't usually go through a planning committee."

Markowitz and Schmidt contend that neither harm nor disrespect was intended. Schmidt said the Planning Board first saw the completed bylaw when it was published in a town newsletter earlier this month.

The commission printed the text of the bylaw in the newsletter in the hopes of generating any questions about it prior to town meeting, rather than contending with queries from the floor on the day of the vote.

"The whole reason for putting it in place is because, even in towns like Windsor, where you have your town charter [stating] that you're a residential/agricultural [district], that doesn't help you when there's problems between residents that are nonfarmers and farmers," said Markowitz. "The purpose of it is to be proactive rather than waiting for problems to come up."

The bylaw says "to maintain a viable farming economy in the town of Windsor, farmers must be afforded protection allowing them the right to farm."

The law says that if the farmers aren't protected, they can become the subject of lawsuits. If voters had been given the chance to pass the measure, Windsor would have become the 86th town in the commonwealth to have the law in place.

"Every town's doing it. I think it's good protection," said Hugh Ferry, the third member of the Agricultural Commission. "[It will protecT] anybody that's got land that's under agricultural [designation], which we do have in town, and there's several backyard farmers. And the whole thing is, if someone moves in and they don't like the smell of of your animals or whatever you're doing, why, I guess it protects the guy who owns the land."

The law also protects prospective buyers of property, as it stipulates that real estate agents must disclose that farms are nearby and that they have this protection.

As of March 8, according to the Massachusetts Agricultural Commissions' Web site, there were 121 agricultural commissions within the state. The Massachusetts Municipal Association recently reported that the number of farms in the state has increased by more than 1,500 over a five-year period ending in 2007, growth that's credited in part to the formation of agricultural commissions and the installation of right-to-farm bylaws.

Ferry said there weren't too many active farms in Windsor, save for a couple who grow Christmas trees and that do forestry and logging.

"It may never have to be enforced, but the protection is there," said Ferry, of an enacted bylaw.

Ferry — tree warden since 1962, cemetery commission member for more than a decade, and member of the Fire Department – said the law would cover any part of town where people do agricultural work. If such a law is ever enacted, it would become effective after passing muster with the state attorney general's office.

Subsequent grievances regarding farmers and farming would be heard by the Agricultural Commission, which would make an advisory ruling and pass that to the Board of Selectmen. The Selectmen would make the final, binding ruling, however. That part of the bylaw also happens to be one of the bones of contention with the planners.

The planners desired to change the makeup of the advisory panel should disputes arise, Schmidt said, preferring a more diverse group, perhaps including members from the commission, the Health Department, the building inspector and a residents' representative.

The bylaw mirrors the Massachusetts General Laws, with exception of the real estate disclosure clause, said Schmidt, also on the board of directors of the Farm Bureau for Berkshire County. That's also another problem for the board, which isn't unanimous in its position on whether disclosure would harm property values.

To increase the peace between the two panels, the Agricultural Commission, the Planning Board, Peter Westover, a consultant with the state Department of Agricultural Resources, and Cheryl Lekstrom, of the Farm Bureau, will meet jointly May 12 to go over the bylaw and resolve any outstanding questions or issues.

The soonest the bylaw could go before voters would be a special town meeting, which Schmidt envisions for June or July. If the Agricultural Commission cannot come to agreement with the Planning Board, Schmidt said the bylaw could be put to voters by petition, but he doesn't want to head down that road if he doesn't have to.

Contact Noah Hoffenberg at hoff1013@gmail.com.