Final News on the Hindale LFO Application

LARGE BARN APPLICATION WITHDRAWN

April 20, 2005
By Candace Page, Staff
The Burlington Free Press

Charlotte Neighbors Challenged Plans

A bitter and long-running feud in Charlotte ended Tuesday. The Hinsdale family announced it was withdrawing its application to build a 684-cow dairy barn in the Bingham Brook valley, and a group of neighbors withdrew their lawsuit against the project.

Clark Hinsdale Jr. and his son, Clark Hinsdale III, have moved the hub of their big farm operation farther north, to a new robotic milking barn on U.S. 7.

Instead of erecting a barn on the nearly 1,000 acres they own in the rural Bingham Brook area, they are likely to build houses on the land.

"The cost of buying more land to farm on needs to come out of land we are not farming," Clark Hinsdale III said. He said he would like to keep at least 500 acres in hay and corn production, and to build clustered residential development on some of the remaining land.

Peter Joslin, one of the Hinsdales' neighbors, said housing development is a preferable outcome. Neighbors had feared that confining so many cows in the valley could pollute their wells.

"In an ideal world, we look out our front door and say, 'We hope the view never changes,' but the reality is that some things will change," Joslin said.

The debate in the valley illustrated a familiar challenge facing communities as more and more rural residences are built near farms -- and as farms themselves double or triple or quadruple in size.

Farmers say they need to grow to survive; neighbors say large-scale dairy operations can damage the quality of life of those around them.

The Hinsdales proposed a 60,000-square-foot barn and a 1.7-acre manure pit near the intersection of Guinea and One-Mile roads in 2002. The barn would have held 684 cows to begin, but the family had said the farm could expand to 1,300 cows.

Neighbors formed an opposition group, Citizens for Safe Farming, that challenged the Hinsdales' plans at every turn. The farm's first application for a state Large Farm Operation permit was rejected, but Agriculture Secretary Steve Kerr said last year that he expected to approve a revised proposal.

Meanwhile, the neighbors went to court to challenge the dam permit the Hinsdales needed for their manure pit.

The two sides called a truce last fall and began bimonthly meetings in search of a settlement. What they learned about each other surprised them, they said Tuesday.

"I learned we had common interests of wanting to keep the majority of land in farming. I came to understand their attachment to this place," said Joslin, the pre-press manager for a printing company.

"We learned about their deepest fears about what could happen, not if we were running the farm, but if some less fastidious operator took it over," Clark Hinsdale III said. "Our reaction was, 'We wouldn't want any of those things to happen, either.'"

The Hinsdales have agreed to a one-year moratorium on construction of new farm structures or manure storage lagoons on their Bingham Brook property. The family also agreed to meet with neighbors in advance of any future plans for residential or agricultural development.

The neighbors and the Hinsdales will continue to discuss a master plan for the farm's future for the next year.

"Everybody on both sides was gentlemanly. Even on hot-button issues, everybody valued not making a scene," Hinsdale said.

Contact Candace Page at 660-1865 or by e-mail at cpage@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com

Copyright (c) The Burlington Free Press. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of Gannett Co., Inc. by NewsBank, inc.

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CFO Press Release:

Hinsdale Farms and Citizens for Safe Farming Reach Agreement

Large Farm Operation Permit Application to be Withdrawn
Moratorium Set on Manure Storage and Farm Building
in Bingham Brook Valley

Charlotte, Vermont: (April 15, 2005):  An agreement has been reached between Hinsdale Farms and Citizens for Safe Farming, a non-profit advocacy group of concerned neighbors, ending more than three years of discussion, conflict and negotiation about the future of Charlotte’s Bingham Brook Valley.  As part of the agreement, Hinsdale Farms is withdrawing its application for a Large Farm Operation (LFO) permit for the proposed location near Guinea Road, while also agreeing to a one-year moratorium on the construction of any farm structures or new manure storage facilities in the Valley. 

The agreement comes at the end of a six-month negotiation period that the parties began in September of 2004.  At that time, Hinsdale Farms asked State Agriculture Commissioner Steve Kerr to suspend any ruling on its application and both Hinsdale Farms and CFSF agreed to put all legal activity on hold.  Today’s agreement means a formal withdrawal of the permit application by Hinsdale Farms and the dropping of all claims and legal activity by CFSF.

 The parties also have agreed to continue their collaboration on the development of a master plan for the future balance between farming, residential development and land conservation.

 “We have always believed that some of Vermont’s best farmland was right here in this valley”, said Clark Hinsdale, III “We hope to conserve the prime agricultural land while siting some residential development on the lesser quality lands.  A mix of farming and low density residential development seems to sit better with the neighborhood that our proposed large farm.”

 In the agreement, Hinsdale Farms will not engage in the construction of any new farm structures or manure storage lagoons in the Bingham Brook Valley for at least the next year.  The Hinsdales have also agreed to notify and meet with CFSF directors in advance of any plans for residential development or significant farming changes in the Valley.  Both sides emphasize that today’s agreement is just the first step in a larger plan for ongoing collaboration on the future of the area.

“When we began the negotiations with the Hinsdales’ last fall, our goal was to create an environment in which we could collaborate and agree on a balanced approach to farming and development in the Valley,” said Peter Joslin, president of Citizens for Safe Farming.  “This agreement is a positive step for everyone in the Valley, and for Charlotte.  We plan to continue to work with the Hinsdales on a master plan based on transparency and communication that gives us all a degree of certainty about the future. We all feel very positive about how this process has played out so far.”

The agreement between the parties will take effect retroactively to April 1^st, 2005 and run through March 31^st, 2006.  The parties will meet periodically during those months, and will discuss extension or modification of the agreement in early 2006.

To further enhance communication with area neighbors, Hinsdale Farms will be exploring the development of a website providing information on crop rotations, manure spreading dates, farm developments and other information.

“As in any compromise, both parties have made significant concessions,” explained Joslin.  “We understand that the Hinsdales have the right to farm their land and to find an economic balance between farming and development.  They recognize that many of their neighbors didn’t see an LFO as the right solution for the Bingham Brook Valley.  Together we’ve turned down the temperature on this whole situation and can now move forward together on a balanced future for the Valley.”

“As a result of neighborhood concerns, we have located a portion of our farming operation at the Nordic Farm on Route 7, said Clark Hinsdale, Jr.  “Our future discussions with the neighbors will help determine the role that the Bingham Brook Valley will play in our future farming plans.

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For more information contact….

Citizens for Safe Farming:  Peter Joslin, (802) 425-6405

Hinsdale Farms:  Clark Hinsdale III, (802) 425-3008