Council sends drafted ordinance changes back to committee level for further cleanup
By Kellen Olshefski
Editor
The City of Elkhorn Common Council decided upon sending an ordinance to amend the city’s zoning code regarding farm stands back to the committee level to further clean up the language Oct. 5.
The ordinance, brought fourth after Little Miss Sweet Pea’s farmstand was notified they could not operate in the Coldwell Banker parking lot because of the city’s zoning code, aims to amend the zoning code to allow farm stands to operate on private properties in Elkhorn with a permit from the city.
Under the ordinance, farm stands would only be allowed to operate from 8 a.m. to dusk on Saturdays and Sundays only from April 1 through Nov. 1 and would have to be removed and stored off-site or indoors when not in use.
When discussing the ordinance during it’s second reading Monday, several key lines in the ordinance raised concerns among councilmembers, who said they feared it might limit farm stands too much.
Mayor Brian Olson asked Monday night if a line in the ordinance pertaining to products sold at farm stands needing to be primarily grown, raised or produced at farms in or around Walworth County was too restrictive.
City Attorney Ward Phillips said from his understanding and how he thinks a court would read it, this would mean at least 50 percent of a farm stand’s products would have to be produced in or around the county, or in other words, Southeastern Wisconsin.
“My question is do we need that last sentence in there at all,” Alderman Hoss Rehberg said.
City Administrator Sam Tapson said the ordinance was drafted based on other communities with similar ordinances and Phillips said it’s purely a policy decision the council can make and nothing is requiring it to be in there legally.
Additionally, Phillips said the ordinance simply regulates farm stands on private property.
“It allows people to establish a farm stand on private property with permission from the private property owner,” Tapson said.
“Currently, as it sits today, they’re illegal. You cannot do it. We’ve allowed one to continue to function while this is in process.”
With the idea of scrapping the last line, City Clerk Cairie Virrueta said she had someone come to her looking to establish a farm stand, noting the person’s intent was to take vegetables and fruit the person could get cheaply and sell them on private property.
Tapson said he would tend to agree with Virrueta, noting keeping some level of restriction would make sense.
Rehberg said looking at situations currently in the city, such as Little Miss Sweet Pea’s and a fruit truck which sells products such as blueberries and Georgia peaches, products not readily available in this area at this time of year, he fears limiting farm stands to Walworth County would be too restrictive and push out sellers like this who sell good product to local consumers.
Alderman Scott McClory also raised the point the ordinance references specific types of agricultural products such as raw vegetables, herbs, jellies and oils, something he said he feels might lead some to believe it’s too restrictive.
Tapson said it’s impossible to list each and every possible product a farm stand could sell, similar to how the zoning code cannot list each and every possible business that could sit on a property.
Phillips, who agreed with sentiment, said however, he did feel there needs to be some language which restricts what can be sold.
“I think you need to have some of the language like you’re referencing so people aren’t trying to sell ceiling tiles,” he said as an example.
“I get that. The only thing I noticed right away when I first saw this, and I raised it once at committee level, is I see jerkies, dried meats and things like that and it specifically excludes meats.”
With the several concerns about language in the ordinance, the council opted to send the draft back to the committee level for further discussion and clarification before making a final decision.
