Baltimore County’s planning board is considering legislation that would allow creameries on land zoned for conservation, a proposal that could make the current web of appellate hearings and court cases over one Glen Arm dairy farmer’s plans moot.
Both sides of a battle between a dairy farmer struggling to keep his farm alive and neighbors who say he is spoiling the Long Green Valley landscape are expected to pack a hearing before the county’s planning board today. At issue is a proposal to allow creameries — such as the one Bobby Prigel has built to sell organic milk, yogurt, cheese and ice cream — on land designated for “resource conservation.”
“When you look through the bluster, all you’ve got is a guy who has a farm that’s sort of going back to basics and producing for a market that has demand,” said Chris McCollum, the county’s agricultural liaison and a Prigel advocate.
The county’s zoning office has twice approved Prigel’s plans, once to allow milk processing and once to allow a retail store. Prigel has already built the 10,000-square-foot facility.
Long Green Valley preservationists have appealed both decisions. Susan Yoder has filed a lawsuit in Baltimore County Circuit Court alleging that Prigel’s development violates a state-held conservation easement that requires the land to be used for agricultural purposes only.
Prigel’s plans, Yoder said, are permissible only in manufacturing and commercial zones.
“The only way to get things rectified now and out of court is to change the zoning law,” Yoder said.
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