Opportunities for small-scale commercial raising of animals and sale of animal products will be expanded if residents approve a zoning bylaw change at Town Meeting in March.
Current rules under the 2011 Right to Farm bylaw allow property owners to sell produce and flowers on lots of any size, but animal products such as meat, dairy, eggs, wool, honey, etc., may not be sold on parcels of less than five acres, and animals may be kept only for personal use on those parcels.
Allowing sales from smaller-scale farming would be “consistent with common agricultural practices in Lincoln” and would “help feed the community and offer valuable skills to young people to keep agriculture flourishing,” Agricultural Commission co-chair Ari Kurtz explained at the State of the Town meeting on November 12.
There are currently more than 16 active farms on 500 acres of agricultural land in Lincoln.
The changes would impose a small-agriculture minimum lot size of 80,000 square feet (a bit under two acres) and allow annual sales of no more than $5,000. The maximum number of “animal units” permitted would be one per acre. An animal unit is defined as one 1,000-pound cow, five goats or sheep, two pigs, 30 fowl or 20 rabbits (bees would be limited by gross sales rather than number of insects). The revised bylaw would also add requirements and definitions for best management practices for handling livestock and manure.
Anyone who felt their neighbor was in violation of the rules could complain to the Board of Health, Kurtz and AgComm co-chair Lynne Bower said. Prospective small-scale farmers would not have to request a special permit, but submitting a simple application to the town’s building inspector is “worth exploring,” Kurtz said.
Although agricultural land is taxed a a lower rate than residential property, there will be no tax implications because, by state law, parcels under five acres may not be classified as agricultural, Kurtz said. The change wouldn’t itself open to the door to marijuana cultivation because selling marijuana will also require a state license and permit, he added.
In response to a question about the $5,000 annual earnings limit, Kurtz and Bower said the number was “just a stab in the dark” and could either be revisited periodically, or indexed to another figure that increases over time.