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This letter was emailed to all County Council members. Their contact information is provided at the right. Click on the email address to send them your thoughts or call and leave a message. They need to hear from all of us.
Councilmember __________,
Councilman Walker has asked county staff to draft an amendment to the Construction Permit (1-12) bill deleting the 12,000 square foot maximum building size exception. The administration opposes the amendment. The Farm Bureau and Horse Council are asking you to support the amendment.
Background
1. The bill to exempt agricultural buildings from construction permits was drafted and proposed by the administration after hearing stories from farmers similar to the one in
this Baltimore Sun article. We had suggested that Inspections and Permits have an ag building specialist on staff and undertake a review to make the permitting process more ag-friendly. We also, however, pointed out that Prince Georges, Montgomery, and many other Maryland counties simply allow ag buildings to be constructed without a formal building permit. The administration chose the exemption alternative with a proviso that the exemption from permitting does not negate the requirement that buildings be constructed in compliance with building codes.
2. The bill as it stands includes a section stating that private use ag structures over 12,000 square feet must obtain building permits. Much confusion exists as to the source of the 12,000 square foot cut-off. It is true that the International Building Code has more stringent requirements for fire prevention and exit locations for some building uses over this size. Those requirements, however, do not apply to ag structures that are for private use. Section C102.2 of the 2009 International Building Code on page 611 states, "The area of a one-story Group U agricultural building shall not be limited if the building is surrounded and adjoined by public ways or yards not less than 60 feet (18 288mm) in width."
3. In Anne Arundel County the farm structures being built today that are larger than 12,000 square feet are pre-engineered buildings that are sold with a guarantee that they comply with local building codes. Some are indoor riding arenas with or without stalls attached. Some are for some combination of hay and equipment storage. If they are for public use, the bill requires a permit.
Anne Arundel County's farm landscape is changing with the suburbanization of our county. The ability of farmers to adapt to the marketplace is critical to our efforts to stay in business and thereby preserve open space. Grain farmers are growing more hay for the horse market, and they need buildings to store it. Horse farms that upgrade facilities by constructing barns and indoor arenas are the ones who also are investing in the best management practices to protect our waterways from the effects of erosion. Stories of farmers investing tens of thousands of dollars to get through the red tape at Inspections and Permits are rampant in this county, and have prevented some of us from moving forward with modernization plans.
Nine months after bringing these issues to the attention of our county executive we are very close to a bill that sends a positive signal to farm owners. Please join with us to keep the bill clean and remove an arbitrary size limitation on what we have defined as a private use agricultural building. Trust the farmers and their builders to comply with the county code, and let us do it without excessive regulation.
Please contact me with any questions. I and others from the Farm Bureau and Horse Council will be in attendance next Monday night to testify and answer questions.
Steuart Pittman
Dodon Farm, Davidsonville
410-507-3351
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