Sugarhouse Needs Site Review

[Amber Gold]

I'm on the town planning board, and there's been a contentious issue and the masses are upset...or at least the vocal ones are. Aside from coming to the meetings, it's real easy to put volunteers down using this wonderful thing called social media. Anyways, one of the things that's been mentioned is that I don't have an approved site plan for our sugarhouse and business. I've never heard of anyone needing a site review for one, so I didn't think one was needed. The Town doesn't have any allowance for ag. sales w/out coming in for a site review whether it's a large ag. retail store or a simple farm stand (nobody enforces this one). I've met with the building inspector, and we both agree that the regulations should be amended to correct this, so I need to draft them. The idea is the reg's will have different classifications of ag businesses. ie. Farm stand nothing needed (btw I consider my sugarhouse sales to be like an oversized farm stand...they're just coming to the sugarhouse instead) up to the full-time retail outlet that's more of a commercial business. Not sure how many ag. business levels there should be. Does anyone have language from their reg's that I could use as a base for the new reg's? Also, the reg's should be based on some generally recognized terms and definitions...basically need some basis for what we came up with.

Thanks for the help.

PS The town's not obligated to do anything unless someone files a complaint. Nobody has yet, but I'm trying to get ahead of this.

[OldManMaple]

Maybe you have but if not, research RSA 21:34-a. Sugaring is Agriculture. I've been watching a nieghboring farm work the system, It has a .Com owner that can aford to lawyer up.
Here are some links. 1st one is about RSA 21:34-a and the others are minutes from planing bord meetings. It worked in Sugar Hill. http://des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wmb/repp/documents/ilupt_chpt_1.7.pdf
http://www.sugarhillnh.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Planning-Board-of-Sugar-Hill-Aug-2014.pdf
http://www.sugarhillnh.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Sugar-Hill-Planning-Board-sept-2014.pdf

[Amber Gold]

Thanks Old Man. I've seen RSA21.34, and I think I can use some of it...there's more stuff in the pdf too...thanks for the link. The Town's not questioning sugaring being agriculture, it's just that there's no allowance for it w/out coming in for a site review. Cost is about $400 to complete the process. To me, this seems onerous for a seasonal business, and really for anyone in town that wants to practice agriculture. Fortunately, unless someone files a complaint, this isn't something the town's actively pursuing.

[David in MI]

Here in MI you don't need a building permit if you are constructing an agricultural building. However, if you plan on having the public inside the building, then it will not only require a permit but also need to be "up to code." I'll attach a link that may be helpful.

https://www.michfb.com/MI/Farm_Business_Resources/Natural_Resources_and_Environment/Building_Permit_Exemption/