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1 Andy Petesch: And so your report accurately reflects and is consistent with your positions before the Board 2 on October 10, 2016? 3 4 Erin White: That’s correct. 5 6 LeAnne Brown: For the record, I object to your receipt of the report. This is the first time I have been 7 handed a copy. I do not have an opportunity to read it and cross-examine the witness, and I renew my 8 objection to your considering him as an expert. If you’re going to read and consider this in your 9 deliberations I’m going to need time to read it and be able to determine whether I should cross-examine 10 him on it. And as I said in the last hearing I question whether he’s an expert. So I’d like to lodge those 11 objections for your record. And I apologize again for being so formal. 12 13 Andy Petesch: This is marked as SPG exhibit 24. And I would simply note that if this report had been 14 provided at the October 10th that Ms. Brown would be in the same position. 15 16 LeAnne Brown: I’d have had 2 weeks to read it if I had had a copy of it on the 10th. 17 18 Andy Petesch: If you could provide a 2mintue overview of your report? 19 20 Erin White: Sure. Thanks for your time tonight. It just goes over again my qualifications and experience, 21 describes the process that I went through in reviewing the farm plan materials. I reviewed the multi-factor 22 analysis that I looked at so really coming at this farm from a number of directions looking at key issues 23 clear to evaluate agreement and consistency between the proposed project and the goals, definitions, and 24 practice of agriculture and agritourism. I looked at the importance of Agriculture to Orange County. I looked 25 at common challenges to agriculture both the Orange County and North Carolina. I looked at the role 26 agritourism, of reaching the larger agricultural roles of new farm development, farm profitability, and public 27 support for rural land preservation. And then more specifically this project classifying as a farm or not is a 28 key question and that classifying each activity proposed in the project as to whether it agrees or not with 29 North Carolina definition of agriculture and agritourism. So, without getting into too much of the detail, 30 Orange County has pretty high priority stated through planning documents, the comprehensive plan, and 31 the agriculture economic plan. High priority on agriculture as a sector. Common challenges to agriculture 32 include age land use patterns especially those residential developments a cultural shift away from farming 33 so in order to replace Farmers that are aging out we don't have younger and new farmers moving in. A 34 globalized food system is creating a really difficult and competitive situation for local and small farms. They 35 can't just compete on price. They have to come up with other activities to help them compete. To explore 36 the role of agritourism and the importance of agritourism to meet these challenges. And then classifying the 37 Brewers’ project as a farm; reviewing the farm business plan summary, conducting a site visit, meeting with 38 the Brewers, and really finding that in fact it is a farm. There is agriculture activity in the ground, the plan is 39 consistent with food production, with commercial horticulture, and the fact that they've met the regulatory 40 requirements by 3 different regulatory bodies are to become a bona fide Farm. It seems to me that, in fact, 41 yes they are farm. And then looking at each of 15 activities that are proposed both in the farm plan 42 summary in the building permit application and in the bona fide farm exemption affidavit. 15 different 43 activities that are proposed for the site examining, all of them through the definition of agriculture, and that's 44 using General Statutes, and sub to that the definition of agritourism also in the general statute. And really 45 looking at them carefully found that each of them actually fit the definition of agritourism and agriculture. 46 And both the definitions per se and the commonly understood activities of agritourism certainly include 47 these activities so the report concludes with my own opinion based on my experience and training and 48 85