Orange County NC Website
new use categories, which is attachment 3. She asked for input from the Board on the <br />overall concept or specifics of the proposal. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis made reference to the winery and six tours per year and asked <br />why the magic number was six. Tina Moan said that they were trying to get a sense of <br />thresholds and this seemed reasonable. She said that far people who are not looking to <br />include the public as the main part of the operation, they were named a Farm Lot <br />Winery. For groups who were interested in having more activity, they named it a Farm <br />Winery with Minor and Major Events. <br />Commissioner Gordon asked why the definitions do not line up with the land uses. Tina <br />Moon said that they had to do some tweaking at the last minute to acknowledge some <br />input from the farmers. There may be some inconsistencies, and these will be resolved. <br />Commissioner Gordon said that she was interested in getting definitions for organic <br />farming and horse farming. <br />Commissioner Carey asked about bona fide farms and bona fide farm accessory uses <br />and what permits are required. Tina Moon said that the brochure suggests that the <br />interested farmer meet with their local farm agency and see if there is a need for what <br />they were proposing. If so, they would work with the agency to develop a plan. Once <br />the plan is developed and researched for applicable regulations (state, federal health}, <br />they would take it to the Planning staff. Planning staff files the information and if a <br />neighbor comes with a complaint, then Planning can look up the file to see that the <br />activity is valid. She said that this would resolve the questions and complaints that <br />Zoning gets with operations that are really fine. <br />John Link said that a general question from the Summit today was "Would the farmers <br />today find this method easier to accomplish the specialty farming ventures?" <br />Commissioner Halkiotis said that he was not able to get to the Summit. He asked about <br />Mr. Baldwin and if he had a slaughtering operation on his land. It was answered that he <br />takes them to the USDA slaughterhouse to be slaughtered and then brings them back to <br />his operation in Caswell County and sells it frozen. He asked if there were any <br />impediments for someone doing this in Orange County. <br />Geof Gledhill said that the one area where this operation would require permitting in <br />Orange County is the structural facilities, but not the land use. The facility that houses <br />the freezer would have to have a permit. The operation would be a bona fide farm. <br />Chair Jacobs made reference to #b2 on page 8, and that the most intensive agricultural <br />services are grindinglcomposting. He asked why there could not be composting without <br />grinding and put it at the other end of the categories. He said that this was one of the <br />problems they were trying to address with people trying to clear land as an adjunct to <br />their farm income. He said that there could be something relatively simple without the <br />grinding. <br />Tina Moon said that this was discussed at the agricultural summit today and they will <br />look at this in more detail. <br />