Farm‑zoning webinar March 24
A coalition webinar on March 24 will unpack a 2025 Vermont Supreme Court ruling affecting farm zoning and rally ag and land‑access groups to protect farm-related land uses. Organizers framed the session as a rapid response space to translate the ruling into local policy strategy. (x.com)
Rural Vermont is hosting the online session alongside the Vermont Farm Bureau, Agri-Mark/Cabot, NOFA‑VT, the Vermont Association of Conservation Districts, Connecticut River Watershed Farmers Alliance, Farm to Plate, and the Land Access and Opportunity Board. (ruralvermont.org) The coalition lists the event for March 24, 2026 from 9:30–11:00 a.m. and requires RSVPs through Rural Vermont to receive the webinar link. (vtfarmtoplate.com) The legal trigger for the coalition’s push is In re: 8 Taft Street DRB & NOV Appeals (2025 VT 27), decided May 30, 2025, in which the Vermont Supreme Court held that 24 V.S.A. §4413(d)(1)(A) bars municipal regulation only of the specific agricultural practices governed by the Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs), not of all farming activities. (law.justia.com) Agency of Agriculture counsel Steve Collier told a legislative committee the agency will send draft statutory and RAPs-rule language that would restore the pre‑ruling municipal exemption, add a statutory “Right to Grow Food,” allow a narrow backyard‑poultry carve‑out, and raise the RAPs sales threshold from $2,000 to $5,000. (legislature.vermont.gov) Coalition briefs and local testimony warn the court’s interpretation could produce a patchwork of town rules affecting farms that span municipal lines, noting Fairmont Farms operates across 13 town borders as an example of cross‑jurisdictional exposure. (northstarmonthly.com) Members of the coalition have filed testimony and a March 2026 sign‑on letter backing legislation (drafted as S.323 and related draft language) to reinstate the municipal exemption and codify a Right to Grow Food before committee action this spring. (legislature.vermont.gov)
