A PROPOSED ZONING CHANGE FOR ALCOHOL PRODUCTION AND EVENT FACILITIES, BREWERIES, WINERIES, DISTILLERIES AND CIDERIES... COULD HAVE HUGE IMPACT ON THE AG RESERVE!

​1. Where will these facilities with very little regulation be allowed? 
Anywhere in color in the map below - more than 1/3rd of the County  on as little as 5 acres.
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​2. We have serious concerns:

• Production of Wine, Cider and Beer can be value added farm products as is the case with a number of current successful operations where the alcohol is an accessory to on site farming.  Yet, the proposed ZTA does not even stipulate that a significant amount of the alcohol ingredients have to be grown close by, allowing them to be acquired anywhere at all if "economically competitive". Put simply: One does not save farming by not farming.
• As introduced, the ZTA has few provisions for limiting number and size of events such as weddings and festivals. Each facility may have unlimited rental wedding type events for over 200 guests and 9 major events annually with no attendance limit. We've heard from one facility planning a tasting room with space for 400. 
• ​​​These two provisions pave the way for a unplanned type of use in the Ag Reserve - an alcohol production facility largely outsourcing ingredients and hold non-agriculturaly related commercial large scale events. The result:  clogged and unsafe  rural roads, conflict with use and enjoyment of other rural businesses and communities, and ever higher rural land cost, effectively barring food and fiber producers from establishing business on the very acreage designed for that use.​ The mismatch between this ZTA and the Master Plan that set aside the Reserve has us looking into the legality of passing this provision.
• Bottom Line: Any new use allowed in the Ag Reserve and rural zones, must  be tethered directly to on site agriculture (as in winerys which the state requires to grow 51% of their inputs on the farm), and properly scaled to maintain balance, safety and environmental health.

​Full Background on this ZTA and our work to bring it in line with County Master Plan goals here.

​3. There are too many important questions and concerns that have not been addressed. County planning and legislative staff have advised that action should not occur until these issues have been resolved. Currently Montgomery County Planning is undertaking a funded initiative to address agritourism, which will address these very issues. That process has not been completed. It is therefore wise and right to defer action on the ZTA. 

This mud is headed to creeks, rivers and the Bay. This is easily preventable.

MCA has joined with Civic Organizations from all over Maryland to ask that Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Benjamin Grumbles meet to discuss how the MDE's efforts can be strengthened to increase the use of the highly-effective construction site pollution control practices required by State law.

The letter sent to Secretary Grumbles outlines the plain fact that exposed soil leads directly to water pollution when dirt from construction sites runs off into local streams and onward toward larger rivers and ultimately the Bay. This cascade of mud brings not just water-clouding particles into streams that can choke out plant life but also high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus - the two leading culprits behind failing ecosystems in our waterways. Construction is in fact one of the highest contributors of these types of pollution. ​

The ask is simple - covered soil is soil that stays put. The letter outlines a number of common sense and cost effective ways to control sediment on a construction site that avoid many times the price tag of mitigating sediment once it hits creeks and rivers. 

Visualize 2045 is the federally required long-range transportation plan for the National Capital Region created by the Council of Governments. It identifies all regionally significant transportation investments planned through 2045 plus those not yet funded. It also provides detailed analysis to help decision-makers and the public “visualize” the future.

Fall will bring open houses throughout the region for folks to learn more about the process. Land use decisions are tied directly to how we travel from place to place in MoCo and the region as we saw when the COG Re-re-re studied the Potomac Bridge project last year. That study yielded some hard and fast recommendations about partnering land use and transportation policies with land conservation goals - based on data that unequivocally says that we can't build out way out of gridlock with more roads but lower cost options, like telework, ride sharing, aligning new housing to areas with available jobs - are all the best options to keep traffic flowing in our busy region. 

Please plan to attend an Open House in Germantown on September 12 4-7 at the Upcounty Citizens Service Center

Careful. Careful.
The Agricultural Reserve is served by an underground aquifer, the Piedmont Aquifer, and it is a finite resource.
Beer production facilities require significant amounts of water : 1 gallon of beer requires 5 gallons (or more)of water to produce.

How much water will the associated event facilities require??

And what are the provisions for managing wastewater as part of this proposed zoning change?
Here's some industry background

What is currently happening from the impact of agriculture that requires significant water from the Ogallala aquifer is a cautionary tale.

Heavy ag use compounded by persistent drought have threatened the very existence of this massive and life-sustaining aquifer.

With projections that climate change may significantly affect water availability in the greater Washington metropolitan area in the near future- great care must be taken with how we promote water intensive uses.

The most recent issue of Montgomery Magazine featured a great article about the Ag Reserve from Heritage Montgomery's Director, Sarah Rodgers. Read "Working Wonder"

 How about zero? Montgomery County is joining some other metro regions that have already pledged to move toward zero waste. It starts with getting the data and brainstorming and researching ideas. The recently released Solid Waste Plan notes that Montgomery County currently has a 55% recycle rate and  projects to be at 70% by 2023.
To that end, we are happy to serve on the County's Zero Waste Task Force in  partnership with other local leaders.   The work to be done here dovetails with the on farm composting plans we helped guide with the County earlier this year.​ There is also a push to close the "waste-to-energy" facility in Dickerson that is long past it's planned life and a safety concern given the Covanta fire last year. MCA's board received a presentation from Mike Ewall of The Energy Justice Network about how all the promotion of incineration as a "clean and green" option for non-recyclable waste is not accurate and hides some very toxic byproducts.  Landfills of course are not much better- it's time to reduce our waste at its source as there are currently no good options for these non-recyclable materials. 

Part of implementing any bold plan is getting feedback as you go to make course corrections. To that end, we want to hear from you on how our waste disposal systems are currently working and what your household would be willing to do to reach the zero waste goal.  

​   This past weekend was Montgomery County’s Farm Tour Weekend, where different farms and agricultural venues held open houses and markets for the public to explore and enjoy.  I decided it would be fun to broaden our family’s horizons and check out a few new places on the map, and see what there was on offer.

​  Saturday we started at Chocolate and Tomatoes Farm, where there was an abundance of fresh produce for sale, including several heirloom varieties of tomatoes, and peppers (including the “mystery batch”-sweet or hot?). After perusing the green house and gardens, we sampled chocolate and bought a few truffles for later. Start with veggies, then finish with dessert! Then right across the street was Red Wiggler Farm, a farm that creates a huge CSA while providing job training for adults with disabilities. While I’ve driven by this property on rt 27 countless, times, I had no idea what they offered. In addition to farm tours, food and produce for sale, there was a “medical tent” from the 1850s etc, where two very fun and knowledgeable volunteers talked about farm medicine in the mid to late 1800s, re-enacted treatments, and allowed the kids to make home remedies (a sachet to keep the moths away, smelling redolently of lavender, cedar, and thyme). The kids were horrified to hear that cough syrup back then consisted of onions mixed with sugar, and you drank the juice that resulted!

 On Sunday we visited Kingsbury Orchard to check out their 52 different varieties of peaches (a rough weekend for harvest due to all the rain during the week prior), and other fruits and veggies. Then we went to Star Gazing farm to check out the kids activities, including crafts, facepainting, and tours of the rescue animals they harbor.  Plenty of cute rabbits, llamas, goats, and a massive bull!

​Spending time on the weekend like this reminds me of what an amazing job Montgomery County does of protecting land and dedicating that land use to a wide variety of good uses, from job training, to education for kids on history, culture, and where our food comes from. My sometimes picky toddler will avoid veggies at the table, but will gobble purple tomatoes, basil, and arugula when he can pick it out of the ground. It was a fun way to try new produce, see new properties, get a little history lesson, pet a llama, and spend time on some beautiful rural properties.

​Nobody is arguing with wineries such as Rocklands or Sugarloaf, nor breweries such as Waredacca. These businesses underwent review by MC Department of Permitting Services and MC Office of Agriculture. They hold limited unrelated and reasonably sized commercial events. Moreover wineries and cideries are agriculture... growing most if not all of their ingredients on their farm as required by MD as part of their licensure. This proposed zoning change offers no such continuing review process, merely requiring that the lot have an MD agricultural tax assessment- minimum of $2500/year of ag product sold - and Ta Da: build a brewery, cannery, pub, event facility and import nearly all the ingredients. Shoot... achieving that tax status could be sale of a single foal.

This fast moving ZTA, however, allows for breweries that source from elsewhere (anywhere at all) to establish in the AR (on land cheaper to acquire than downcounty) and all rural residential zones... no limit on size of commercial space, nor number of rented events with over 200 attendees, each may hold 9 outdoor events (music festivals, sporting tournaments etc.) annually without maximum attendee limit and no stated hours. Wineries and cideries are conducting ag here... breweries, under this ZTA... not so much. Folks (broad group of stakeholders) are asking for reasonable scale under limited use and that greater scale (frequency/attendees) get conditional use approval. You know so the site's specifics can be factored in... like folks do in reasonable zoning. Seems to be a premise in the distant offices in Rockville and Silver Spring that "whoa... all that land out there, less people... whose gonna notice?" Take note some of the professionals have weighed in and asked for more care including staff at Montgomery County Planning and the legal advisor to the Council. Additionally,  it has been only recently that we have understood the impact of breweries on water/wastewater. 

The photos above depict the cautionary tale from Frederick County where a single venue hosts 10-12,000 people daily at festivals throughout the growing season. It was Ed Boyce of wonderful Black Ankle Vineyard in the top photos (now establishing a vineyard in the Reserve) who warned of this potential problem, which he added significantly dings other nearby businesses with snarled traffic and loss of rural atmosphere that is their central draw. Take note: many millions of dollars (taxpayer and private) have been spent (payed to farm owners) to acquire easements to ensure that Reserve farmland will be saved from loss to development... in order that we may continue to conduct farming. 


How do we save farming by not farming and promoting conflict with the central purpose of the Ag Reserve?
The answer: You don't.