Minutes 02-24-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Pelissier referred to the addition of the provisions for some of the enterprises that might use more water than an average household. She asked if this would be a problem if a neighborhood went in with pools and irrigation and did not have the same requirements for ground water studies. James Bryan said this might be a policy issue, but he sees no legal issue with it. Paul Guthrie referred to the process with micro breweries and some of the definitions. He said this needs to be dealt with. Tony Blake said he has talked with farmers and all of the concerns were around the water usage. He said people are not clear on what the language means for them. He said there is concern about the available use of water for their livelihood through expansion of herds or crops. Chair Jacobs said it is important to clarify this. Commissioner Gordon asked if this would apply to a bona-fide farm. Perdita Holtz said this would not affect any livestock or crop usage. She wonders if this is getting at the issue of having a bona-fide farm that raises cattle and then there is also an agricultural services use that is subject to the groundwater study. Tony Blake said the issue seems to be a desire for flexibility. Perdita Holtz said this does not restrict water usage for cows or crops in any way, even if the farmer also has an agricultural services use. Marc Marcoplos said he is impressed with the handling of the Efland overlay issues. He said he has been hearing about the agricultural enterprise concept for years, and he thinks it is important to help farmers make a better living. He said the water issue is the one that people will seize on, and perhaps for good reason with the way it is written. He said he went to the information session, which was re-scheduled due to weather. He said there are 600 farmers in the County and it is worth looking into that there were none of them there. He feels there must be a better mechanism to communicate with the farmers. Megan Toben said she lives off Dairyland Road and has been farming for 12 years. She said she has sold at multiple farmers markets. She said for 9 of those 12 years, her husband subsidized the farm with his income. She said most of the farm's financial resources and lands were lost in 2010 as a result of the financial crisis. She said she and her husband made a shift with the remaining 38 acres toward agri-tourism and crop diversification. She has been running a non-profit called Pickards Mountain Eco-Institute, which offers environmental education to local schools, as well as weekend workshops on various topics. She said the farm is also in the final stages of opening a farm stand called the Honeysuckle Teahouse, which will open in April. She said it is hard to make ends meet as a farmer. She said farmers need all the help that the County can offer, and it is worth it to spend the time working out all of these details. She recommended that the Board and staff check in with the Carolina Farm Stewards program for input on the issues farmers face. She said she is here to thank for the Board for what they do and to ask them to stay with this agricultural support enterprises program until it is the best that it can be. Perdita Holtz said she would like to clarify that if you use more water than the average single house, it does not mean you cannot exist; it means you will have to do a groundwater study. Tony Blake said he has a neighbor who had a spring that dried up in the drought. He was forced to go to groundwater. He said it was not clear to his neighbor that he was not being restricted. Commissioner McKee said there were not a lot of commercial farmers at the information meeting or at tonight's meeting because those are large businesses that fall outside of the permitting structure. He said this will be beneficial to smaller or beginning farmers who want to transition their operation. He said these large farms have computers and smart phones and