Groups want creamery zoning tabled
County board to vote on zoning at later time
By Pat van den Beemt
pvdb@comcast.net
Posted 1/21/09
More than 100 people crammed into the Baltimore County Planning Board’s hearing room Jan. 15, and 26 of them told board members what they thought about its proposed amendments to county zoning regulations regarding creameries.
The amendments define a creamery and allow it to be situated in RC (resource conservation) zones in the county. Those zones include RC 2, agricultural land, and RC 4, watershed land.
The board is attempting to make changes after opponents of a planned creamery in Long Green argued before the county deputy zoning commissioner that creameries are allowed only on commercially zoned property.
Organic dairy farmer Bobby Prigel has already built a creamery on his farm on Long Green Road, but has not equipped it or begun selling while the battle over its legality continues.
“It’s just common sense to say that dairying includes creameries,” said Monkton farmer Tom Albright, who told the board that dairy farmers used to sell milk and milk products directly from their farms until health regulations in the 1940s required pasteurization. “The community wants to buy fresh food from their local community.”
But opponents to Prigel’s creamery chided the board for what they say is a quick fix.
“We question the process and procedures,” said Carol Trela, secretary of the Long Green Valley Association, who called the amendments “clearly special interest, hastily prepared and politically fast-tracked.”
Her group, as well as North County Preservation, asked the board to table the amendments until a committee is formed to study long-term ramifications of a change.
The Sparks-Glencoe Community Planning Council also asked to table the amendments. That group urged the board to allow creameries in RC zones by special exception, not by right.
Upperco farmer Wayne Armacost told the board he closed his dairy farm two years ago and said he supports the changes, which would affect only eight dairy farms left in Baltimore County.
The Prigel controversy has given rise to a new community group, and its chairman, David Childs, spoke at the Jan. 15 meeting. Childs, who is Bobby Prigel’s brother-in-law, told the board that 90 people attended the first meeting of the Greater Long Green Community Association and voted unanimously to support the amendments.
The board will vote on the amendments at a future meeting and pass its recommendation to the County Council for a vote. The 15-member board meets the first and third Thursday of each month.
The amendments define a creamery and allow it to be situated in RC (resource conservation) zones in the county. Those zones include RC 2, agricultural land, and RC 4, watershed land.
The board is attempting to make changes after opponents of a planned creamery in Long Green argued before the county deputy zoning commissioner that creameries are allowed only on commercially zoned property.
Organic dairy farmer Bobby Prigel has already built a creamery on his farm on Long Green Road, but has not equipped it or begun selling while the battle over its legality continues.
“It’s just common sense to say that dairying includes creameries,” said Monkton farmer Tom Albright, who told the board that dairy farmers used to sell milk and milk products directly from their farms until health regulations in the 1940s required pasteurization. “The community wants to buy fresh food from their local community.”
But opponents to Prigel’s creamery chided the board for what they say is a quick fix.
“We question the process and procedures,” said Carol Trela, secretary of the Long Green Valley Association, who called the amendments “clearly special interest, hastily prepared and politically fast-tracked.”
Her group, as well as North County Preservation, asked the board to table the amendments until a committee is formed to study long-term ramifications of a change.
The Sparks-Glencoe Community Planning Council also asked to table the amendments. That group urged the board to allow creameries in RC zones by special exception, not by right.
Upperco farmer Wayne Armacost told the board he closed his dairy farm two years ago and said he supports the changes, which would affect only eight dairy farms left in Baltimore County.
The Prigel controversy has given rise to a new community group, and its chairman, David Childs, spoke at the Jan. 15 meeting. Childs, who is Bobby Prigel’s brother-in-law, told the board that 90 people attended the first meeting of the Greater Long Green Community Association and voted unanimously to support the amendments.
The board will vote on the amendments at a future meeting and pass its recommendation to the County Council for a vote. The 15-member board meets the first and third Thursday of each month.
user comments (0)
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement