Orange County NC Website
Approved 12/12/16 <br />OC Board of Adjustment – 10/10/16 Page 81 of 113 <br /> <br /> <br /> 1 <br />Erin White: Sure. A Food system refers to the people and activities that work together to move food from 2 <br />farms to all of our tables. It includes political, economic and social forces. It includes distribution activities, 3 <br />food processing, consumption, food waster management, and at the core of a healthy food system is a 4 <br />diverse set of farms that are profitable that produce all the food that we eat. 5 <br /> 6 <br />Andy Petesch: And at my request do you memorialize your review and analysis of the Brewer Farm project 7 <br />in a brief report? Is that correct? 8 <br /> 9 <br />Erin White: Yes. 10 <br /> 11 <br />Andy Petesch: And is this an accurate copy of that report? 12 <br /> 13 <br />Erin White: Yes. 14 <br /> 15 <br />Andy Petesch: And did anything change with respect to your materials, the information that you reviewed, 16 <br />your process, or your conclusions from your testimony on the 10th to now? 17 <br /> 18 <br />Erin White: No. 19 <br /> 20 <br />Andy Petesch: And so your report accurately reflects and is consistent with your positions before the Board 21 <br />on October 10, 2016? 22 <br /> 23 <br />Erin White: That’s correct. 24 <br /> 25 <br />LeAnne Brown: For the record, I object to your receipt of the report. This is the first time I have been 26 <br />handed a copy. I do not have an opportunity to read it and cross-examine the witness, and I renew my 27 <br />objection to your considering him as an expert. If you’re going to read and consider this in your 28 <br />deliberations I’m going to need time to read it and be able to determine whether I should cross-examine 29 <br />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 30 <br />objections for your record. And I apologize again for being so formal. 31 <br /> 32 <br />Andy Petesch: This is marked as SPG exhibit 24. And I would simply note that if this report had been 33 <br />provided at the October 10th that Ms. Brown would be in the same position. 34 <br /> 35 <br />LeAnne Brown: I’d have had 2 weeks to read it if I had had a copy of it on the 10th. 36 <br /> 37 <br />Andy Petesch: If you could provide a 2mintue overview of your report? 38 <br /> 39 <br />Erin White: Sure. Thanks for your time tonight. It just goes over again my qualifications and experience, 40 <br />describes the process that I went through in reviewing the farm plan materials. I reviewed the multi-factor 41 <br />analysis that I looked at so really coming at this farm from a number of directions looking at key issues 42 <br />clear to evaluate agreement and consistency between the proposed project and the goals, definitions, and 43 <br />practice of agriculture and agritourism. I looked at the importance of Agriculture to Orange County. I looked 44 <br />at common challenges to agriculture both the Orange County and North Carolina. I looked at the role 45 <br />agritourism, of reaching the larger agricultural roles of new farm development, farm profitability, and public 46 <br />support for rural land preservation. And then more specifically this project classifying as a farm or not is a 47 <br />key question and that classifying each activity proposed in the project as to whether it agrees or not with 48 <br />North Carolina definition of agriculture and agritourism. So, without getting into too much of the detail, 49