Variance denied

First off, thank you to everyone who came in support to the town zoning board of appeals meeting last night. There were around 20 folks with us including neighbors, shareholders and/or community members. We appreciate the thoughtful comments of John, Grace and Richard as well. Our application was not passed.

I don't have the exact numbers to cite, but it's my understanding use variance applications are denied 90+% of the time. We were somewhat optimistic that the use request may have a chance due to the seasonal nature of the small livestock and not requiring a permanent building.

our property-with total acreage and zoning lined marked

Just to be clear, we will still be raising chicken this season in the rural portion of the property. The animal protein share will still contain chicken and pork. We had hoped to be able to raise the birds in a fallow/cover cropped area of one of the main fields to improve soil fertility, but that is not yet possible. We need to re-group and figure out what the next step might be. Let us know if you have any questions at all about the process. Everything we are currently doing is completely legal, we were just hoping to have small livestock in the road frontage areas. The share pickup barn and all those close fields are in the residential zone, so the allowed uses are more restricted than the forested rural portion of the property.

Thank you.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT ON APRIL 27th: important stuff!

Many of you likely recall the meetings and zoning challenges of 2012-13.  Countless lovely community members attended meetings and helped make food production possible on our entire property. There's more to come! It is not currently legal for us to raise livestock (beyond 6 chickens) within 250' of Miner Street. It is not legal for them to be in any of the closest fields by the barn or in the fields next to Taylor Park Road. We hope to change that! We've applied for a land use variance for seasonal small scale livestock (chickens and lamb), appropriately scaled for our parcel.

 

If you believe this should be an allowed use, Please join us next Tuesday at 6:30pm sharp!   We are the only item on the Town Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) agenda, so we don't expect the meeting to be long. It is rare that land use variances are approved, but we'll do our best to have a strong showing. A full house will demonstrate a major interest in accessible and diversified local food systems. All of our acreage is in the Agricultural District and we believe the ability to rotate seasonal livestock through our  fields will improve our CSA Farm and Educational offerings as well as improve the character of the neighborhood. 

No need to prepare a speech, just show up!

TUESDAY APRIL 28th 6:30pm

Municipal Bldg basement

60 Main Street

Canton

If you are interested in learning more, here's the site plan review we submitted as well as our answers to the 'test,' questions required by all variance applicants.

Let the participation begin!

Maybe this fiercely persistent winter has got you feeling cooped up. Fear not! April has arrived and the garden opportunities are beginning to multiply. Saturday mornings are great times to plug in at littleGrasse. Or Thursdays 1-4pm. Coming soon to your favorite CSA: pea & onion planting, leaf unbagging and more! Get in touch if you want to participate, if the above mentioned times do not work.

India seeding trays of broccoli in the greenhouse

Also, mark you calendar for the first Garden Morning & potluck, Saturday May 9th.