Agritourism takes center stage at P&Z meeting

SALISBURY — A local farmer met with the Planning and Zoning Commission during its regular meeting on Feb. 18 for a pre-application discussion surrounding altering zoning regulations surrounding agritourism.

Robert Taylor, who runs Sleepy Cow Farm in Lakeville, was joined by attorney Daniel Casagrande of Cramer & Anderson LLP to present the proposed amendment to the regulations. Salisbury currently does not have explicit zoning for agritourism businesses, and Casagrande and Taylor urged that the commission consider allowing agritourism on local farms via special permit approval.

Casagrande presented a draft of the proposed regulation to the commission, defining agritourism as an “activity conducted on a farm that is offered to a member of the general public or to invited guests for the purpose of education, recreation, or active involvement in the farm operation.”

The draft offered examples of agritourism activities, including hay rides, produce picking, petting farms, wedding or event hosting and pumpkin patches, among others.

The regulation draft stated that activities categorized as agritourism be allowed in the RR-1 (residential) zone given that it complies with the proposed restrictions, which include specifications and limitations regarding acreage, parking, location and operating hours. The draft is available for public review on P&Z’s meeting documents webpage.

P&Z Chair Michael Klemens expressed hesitation to alter zoning regulations in reference to a single applicant, citing public misunderstanding following a 2024 alteration to hotel zoning that allowed for restricted hotel development in the RR-1 zone.

Klemens instead advocated for addressing the lack of agritourism zoning as part of a broader overhaul of Salisbury’s zoning regulations that is planned to ramp up over the next year.

Klemens maintained that addressing farms and farm operations — including agritourism — in the zoning review is a top priority: “We have a lot of work to do… if we’re going to protect farms and the farm way of life – not just have them be a backdrop to development, but actually to have real farms.”

Other commissioners similarly expressed their desire to see the town’s farms flourish, but agreed with Klemens that any amendments to zoning regulations must be done carefully and according to process. Klemens said that it may take a year to 18 months to establish new zoning regulations surrounding agritourism.

Attorney Casagrande said he was disappointed that the proposal wasn’t well received, but said that the conversation was productive and expressed his desire to continue collaborating with the commission as it moves towards altering the regulations. “There’s a lot of good stuff that came out of tonight that I think we can work on, and we can work on it quickly and effectively,” he said.