Board of Zoning Appeals Sets Cap on Agricultural Pursuit in Residential Zone

In the absence of clear direction from the Town Council on performance standards for urban agriculture, the Board of Zoning Appeals struggled on February 17 to adjudicate a violation appealed by Melanie Thornberg of Happy Creek Cheeses, LLC. This operation, associated with Thorny Ridge Farm, is located on property zoned R-S (Suburban Residential). It is arguably an agricultural pursuit, and with its multiple facilities and upwards of forty goats, it is out of character with its zoning designation. What was originally chartered as a home occupation has expanded into something that is “too big”, to use the words of Chairman Cody Taylor.

The Board of Zoning Appeals holds a meeting on February 17. Royal Examiner Photo Credits: Brenden McHugh.

Granted, the Town Council is on a journey, and attention to urban agriculture is still very much on the radar. If it serves as anything, the seventeenth illustrates the need for clear guidelines, particularly when it comes to what is meant by the word “incidental”. This word was repeated frequently by staff during the hearing, emphasizing that in residential zones, urban agriculture should not overwhelm the primary residential use. But what is incidental is not clear to everyone. Obviously. Until the council generates numbers, clarifies what is meant by “livestock,” and determines whether the volume of trade based on products manufactured on site exceeds mere urban activity and establishes a full-blown agricultural presence, the problem will persist.

Enforcement Officer Daniel Wells.

Appellant Melanie Thornberg.

The property is located adjacent to several others that feature non-conforming uses, including one instance in which a property that had always had horses prior to its re-designation continues to have them. This may have contributed to the board’s decision to put a cap on the operation. In other words, the Thornbergs can maintain what they have currently, but they are not expanding beyond that. Without this concession from the board’s majority, their next step would be the court, at which point, because a prior zoning administrator may or may not have greenlighted them, they could possibly receive a ruling in their favor. The awareness that such an operation would never be approved now permeated the majority’s decision to tolerate this extraordinary case.

Deputy Zoning Administrator John Ware and Planning Director Lauren Kopishke.