Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
education after reviewing the relevant material that in fact the Brewer project is a farm. That all of the 1 <br />proposed activities meet the definition of agriculture and agritourism and that in addition to that the project 2 <br />clearly aligns with the planning priorities of Orange County around agriculture. 3 <br /> 4 <br />Barry Katz: So the thrust of you argument is that this is a farm, correct? And that the Brewers’ are the 5 <br />farmers? 6 <br /> 7 <br />Erin White: That’s not the thrust of the argument but the project is a farm; yes. And the Brewers’ as the 8 <br />owners and operators, I guess you would say would be the farmers. 9 <br /> 10 <br />Barry Katz: Have you ever run a farm. Either of you? 11 <br /> 12 <br />Chris Brewer: No, sir. 13 <br /> 14 <br />Barry Katz: Have you ever run a business? 15 <br /> 16 <br />Chris Brewer: Yes, sir. 17 <br /> 18 <br />Barry Katz: What kind of business? 19 <br /> 20 <br />Chris Brewer: Multiple businesses. We have a rental property business. We have 2 different retail 21 <br />businesses on Franklin Street we are 50% owners of. We also had a real estate property investment 22 <br />business. 23 <br /> 24 <br />Barry Katz: Ok. So you’ve run businesses but you’re really not farmers but now your farmers because you 25 <br />own this place. Ok. 26 <br /> 27 <br />Karen Barrows: Is that all you have Andy? 28 <br /> 29 <br />Andy Petesch: Yes, thank you very much. 30 <br /> 31 <br />LeAnne Brown: Can I ask Mr. White just a couple of questions… You are providing an opinion reportedly as 32 <br />an expert in this hearing and what I heard you say is that you have read the North Carolina General 33 <br />Statutes and that it's your opinion that this operation meets the statutory definition of agritourism. Is that a 34 <br />legal opinion you're reporting to provide? 35 <br /> 36 <br />Erin White: It's not. 37 <br /> 38 <br />LeAnne Brown: And you are not trained as a lawyer, is that correct? 39 <br /> 40 <br />Erin White: Correct. 41 <br /> 42 <br />LeAnne Brown: With regard to Orange County's interest in preserving farmland; would that interest in 43 <br />Orange County extend to other individuals, and farming communities, and their properties, and their use of 44 <br />their property for agricultural purposes? Or does it only extend to new farmers? 45 <br /> 46 <br />86