| APRIL 2, 2011 -- Connecticut farmers feeling squeezed by housing developments and shopping centers got a few lessons Thursday about how to navigate a maze of land use rules to make zoning work for them.
About 100 farmers and local officials turned out for the forum, organized by the Connecticut Farm Bureau, where agriculture officials and lawyers explained zoning laws that vary among Connecticut's 169 towns.
Doug Dubitsky, an agriculture lawyer from North Windham, told farmers that some towns are hostile to farming and use zoning to ban farms.
"They think you smell, they think you make too much noise, they think you put too much manure on the roads," he said. "You've got people in one- and two-acre lots that are complaining all the time, your tractors are always blocking up the roads. They look at the regulations and say, 'Well, that guy's not allowed to do that. Get him out of here.'"
Dubitsky advised farmers to research rules and laws and not take the word of local zoning enforcement officials.
"Do not take the ZEO's word for anything," he said. "Find out yourself. Look at the regulations. Get help."
He said Connecticut towns are taking particular aim at pig farms.
"Frankly, if you're a pig farmer in this state, I have all the sympathy for you because so many towns are trying to zone pig farming out of their town," he said.
Thomas R. Dexter, who raises pigs at his Southington farm, told Dubitsky he appreciated his comments. He complained that farmers are forced to deal with outdated rules against odors that were imposed when farmers fed pigs with smelly garbage more than a century ago.
"And we have to still live with that," he told Dubitsky. "They point that like a gun."
Agriculture Commissioner Steven K. Reviczky said local officials should follow state laws defining farming and agriculture. In particular, he said odors from manure or fertilizers and noise from equipment are generally accepted agricultural practices and are not nuisances under the law.
"All too often local boards and commissions feel that they can come up with a better definition of farming and agriculture and I don't think there's a better definition than what we can find in the state statutes currently," he said.
Farmers have also complained that red tape is snarling various initiatives, from proposals for farm stands to parking for visitors who come to taste wine. |
