Michigan Right to Farm Law, what does it mean?

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
Oh my!

 

[Leta]

Hi everyone, I'm brand new.

Thanks for the wonderful information in this thread. Just wonderful, how everyone helps each other out.

I don't know if the OP is still reading this thread or not, but here is our situation:

We live in a small (6600 people) city in the U.P. The population has declined from 10,000, and the city borders have grown, so there are big pockets of land. We are in the process of trying to buy 10 acres within the city limits. I know, based on conversations I had with city hall last year, that they are unhelpful, and ignorant of RTF. I doubt anyone there knows it exists. I don't doubt that they will try to fight our right to farm.

I had a wonderful conversation with Destiny Mike this morning. He was helpful and moral supportive. I told him that I had talked to Wayne Whitman, and Destiny Mike said, "Wait, I don't even need to know what he said, I can tell you," and then he did, heh. Mr. Whitman told me that the 1999-2000 amendment allowed local governments to enforce zoning, which, I am not a lawyer, but I can read English, and that is not what is in RTF. It was either a prevarication or a misrepresentation, I'm not sure which.

So, I am looking for an attorney, just for a consultation, so that I can have my i's dotted and my t's crossed ahead of time. Hopefully the city won't make a thing out of it, but I want to be ready if they do, and I am willing to fight for my rights.

Does anyone know what kind of lawyer to look for? There are no agricultural attorneys in the entire U.P., so I was thinking of contacting a real estate lawyer. Any thoughts on this?

 

[theFox]

Leta,

You might want to look into what happens if you have 10 acres or more of land, frequently a lot of land that size fall outside a lot of local control, and in the case of your state you can even petition the courts in your county to disassociate your lot from the village or town provided certain criteria are met.

You need to chat with a lawyer that deals with land use issues.

I would check the local land use laws they may already provide you with the permission you seek.

 

[dianaross77]

Leta,

First of all

You should try contacting your state representative. I know a couple of people who did and the sr got the townships off their backs. I think the authorities are often times ignorant of the amendment but also sometimes are deliberately trying to mislead residents into thinking the mrfta doesn't apply to them. Good luck!

 

[Leta]

Thanks, guys!

I agree that local government wants people to think that way more limitations apply to MRFTA than actually do, which is frankly shameful. In my case, I think that for the most part the city employees are just not very good at their jobs rather than being malevolent, but time will tell I guess.

Thanks for the warm welcome.

We are planning on getting our first hens this year. My husband raised chickens as a kid, but they were meat birds, so I'll be hanging out here to learn how to take good care of our egg birds.

 

[franklinstreetwest]

Quote:
Be sure to read the GAAMP guidlines for "Farmers Markets" in addition to all the other pertinent GAAMP guidlines that would need to be met for protection.

 

[eldenbrady]

I think a strong case could be made that the Farm Market GAAMP goes beyond the power the MDA has in drafting the GAAMPs and that the zoning provisions are therefor illegal. However this is legal theory that is completely untested!!! In other words a test case would be awesome, but don't invest to much money into it because there is no telling if you would win or lose.

 

[dsp]

I have been fighting my city also. The last I heard from them was last July. Today I received a packet from the city attorney finally explaining their case. In the pages of documents they talk of a case that was in Circuit court, City of Ypsilanti vs. Peter Thomason. The judge in this case ruled against chicken farmer, stating that "residentially zoned areas are considered unacceptable for construction of new livestock facilities." He left out an important word, production. A livestock production facility is considered 50 animal units, or 5000 hens.

So this is where I am.

Dave.

 

[dsp]

Quote:
The packet I received today had AG Cox informational letter to rep Morrison from 2006. Nothing in this letter goes against what I am doing, but the city attorney seems to think that the AG rules in the cities favor due to livestock production facility.

Ag Schuette letter just stated that still go along with AG Cox's letter.

I will try and put these documents up tommorow.

 

[eldenbrady]

Unfortunately the livestock production facility rules (whilst they do not apply to backyard animals) give the local government plenty of words to use to confuse ignorant (often willfully) local judges. It helps immensely if you have an attorney (since judges will usually actually look it up if an attorney says it).

And for what it is worth, a circuit court case has no precedented value on anything. Outside itself it is nothing.