Report From June 15  

Anne Arundel Horse Council Meeting

at Pip Moyer Recreation Center

For additional information contact:

Steuart Pittman (dodonfarm@verizon.net)

Heather Beygo (hrb@cls-law.com)

On very short notice sixty-one people attended the June 15 meeting of the Anne Arundel Horse Council to express concerns about the application of building and grading permit requirements on farms. Pride was expressed by many that at a time when grain farmers are leaving the county for more welcoming areas (6,000 acres lost between 2002 and 2007 according to USDA Ag Census), horse people are continuing to work with soil conservation to install best management practices, improve their pastures, reduce erosion and nutrient runoff, and keep up with the marketplace by building barns and riding arenas to serve their clients. The county has 950 places where 4,500 horses reside on 10,200 acres (2010 Maryland Equine Census).

It was noted that County Executive Leopold has reviewed our group's emails and acknowledged that we have identified a problem that needs to be resolved. He was represented at the meeting by Bea Poulin. It was also noted that Councilman Jerry Walker, who was out of state and represented by staff, has offered to work with us to draft and present legislation to the County Council to better define agricultural exemptions. Councilman Benoit also was represented by staff at the meeting and has expressed interest in working with us on a solution.

What follows are highlights of the discussion that will guide our follow-up in the coming weeks.

1. William Bower of Drum, Loyka, and Associates,who has represented horse farms in the permitting process and serves as a technical advisor to our group, explained how one goes about obtaining a "Standard Grading Plan" and a "Grading Permit". When asked about the cost to hire his firm to obtain these, he estimated  $1000 for the"Plan" and $4000 to $6000 for the more onerous "Permit".

2. Jim Stein, District Manager of the AA Soil Conservation District, put forth details of a document that he and George Eberle of Permits and Inspections had drafted explaining when farms need building permits, grading permits, and standard grading plans. He said that the Board of the District would be deciding whether to approve the document at it's June 21 meeting. Mr. Stein described the document as a compromise between himself and Pemits and Inspections.

3) While the group thanked Mr. Stein for being the first county official to attempt to clarify when farmers need permits, the document was criticized on a number of points. The primary objections were that it states that farmers are required to have Building Permits for everything over 64 square feet, as well as expensive Grading Permits for most of the buildings that we construct , routine clearing of hedgerows and encroachment of woods on pastures, trail clearing and stream crossing maintenance, and many other situations that are commonplace on farms. People were unhappy about the prospect of hiring engineers and obtaining grading permits for these farm activities. We felt that Mr. Stein's definition of exempt Agricultural Land Management Practices was too restrictive. Mr. Stein offered to postpone action by the SCD Board and await suggestions from our group for new policy.

4) George Eberle, Acting Director of Permits and Inspections, acknowledged that Anne Arundel County is different from most Maryland counties in that there are fewer agricultural exemptions to permitting requirements. He also acknowledged that the staff uses the same formula for calculating building permit costs by square footage for a barn as for a house, and that there is a requirement for a grading plan whenever a tree stump is removed, whether the tree is dead or alive. Mr. Eberle did not offer opinions on whether existing law and practice is justified. He simply stated the requirements as he understood them.

5) Mr. Stein acknowledged that the County Soil Conservation District Board had passed a resolution in 2007 stating that wineries on farms where vineyards exist and indoor and outdoor riding arenas are non-agricultural buildings. He promised to ask the Board to reconsider that policy after reviewing HB955, the 2009 bill passed by the MD General Assembly specifically stating that equestrian activities taking place on farms are agricultural. When asked if he would also seek reconsideration of the policy with respect to wineries he made no commitment, but commented that making wine is processing the agricultural product, and that the line needs to be drawn somewhere. Farm owners reminded Mr. Stein that stripping tobacco, pasteurizing milk, canning vegetables and many other farm activities are similar in nature. Again, the sense of people in the room was that an effort was being made to restrict the definition of agriculture, thereby leaving farmers to deal directly with the staff at Permits and Inspections who have no training in agricultural issues and whose fees and fines are high enough to prevent farmers from improving their operations.

6) Harry Ketts, a Maryland Horse Council member from Prince George's County who serves on that county's Equine Industry Task Force, explained that in his county it is the Soil Conservation District staff that works with farmers to ensure that their construction and grading projects are done in an environmentally responsible way. Because the work on farms is reviewed by SCD staff, farm buildings are exempt from grading permits and building permits, thereby saving the county significant staff hours. They require only electrical and plumbing inspections.  

7) Many people in the group described experiences with Permits and Inspections staff whose knowledge of agricultural practices was nonexistent. The level of frustration among farm owners was high.

The meeting closed with a commitment by all parties to work together to establish new agricultural exemptions to existing county requirements that reflect the realities of farming in this county. Farm owners were encouraged to email additional comments and suggestions for new policy to the Heather Beygo at hrb@cls-law.com or Steuart Pittman at dodonfarm@verizon.net.