[AT] Quick question

[charlie hill]

I commented in a different message about "freedom to farm" and that was the 
wrong terminology.
In my county they call it "voluntary agriculture districts" and an active 
farm can declare it's self as
a district.  Looking online I found this for Yadkin Co. NC (Spencer's Co. I 
think?) and I suspect Spencer
is well aware of this but I'll pass it along for others. 
https://www.cals.ncsu.edu/wq/LandPreservationNotebook/PDFOrdinances/Yadkin.pdf

-----Original Message----- 
From: Joe Hazewinkel
Sent: Friday, November 13, 2015 6:42 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Quick question

Spencer,

I assume you are not in a "right to farm" state?  Here in Michigan you 
cannot sue a farm operation unless it's something especially bad, like a 
poorly constructed manure pit flooding your basement.

If it's the same landowner over and over again, can you counter sue for 
harassment?  I would think your legal team should be able to collect their 
fees from the people bringing the suit if/when they loose.  If they have to 
pay your costs each time, they might stop doing it.

Enjoy, Joe

Sent via mobile device

On Nov 12, 2015, at 10:06 PM, ATIS <yostsw at atis.net> wrote:

Just a quick question:    I have a completely legal farm:   Properly zoned, 
above the minimum size, and part of an agricultural district.    I am 
constantly getting sued by the mac-mansion neighbors around me.   They 
always lose and in fact the last time the judge dismissed "with prejudice". 
I assumed that would keep anyone from suing but it doesn't.   It just means 
I  win but I still have to spend money to defend it.  In fact, I was served 
yet again with a lawsuit early this week.

In short:  There does not seem to be a disincentive built into the system to 
prevent suits - even if I keep winning.  My legal team - who keeps winning 
so I am biased towards listening - says filing a suit against the neighbors 
for frivolous lawsuits would probably fail.  They say the court requires 
"malice and callous disregard for the merits" for that to stick and it's a 
high bar to prove.  The fact they won't take that on contingency sort of 
proves to me they believe what they say.  A second opinion I sought 
supported their position.

Anyone else who is farming on this list that is running up against this? 
Just curious.   The legal bills are becoming onerous and everyone I talk to 
locally has not seen this.

Spencer Yost
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