UPDATE: Ask Senate Committee to Support HB 1089
Thursday - February 27, 2014
approx. 12:30 p.m. or later
[half hour after Senate adjourns] General Assembly Building
Senate Room B
1000 Bank Street
Richmond, VA 23218 [directions]
Please show your support and take action.
Inundate the entire Senate Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources with your support of this bill!
Please share this alert with friends and family.
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A definition of "agricultural products" is already codified in Virginia statutes under section 3.2-6400. Virginia law currently restricts localities from requiring a 'special use' permit for certain agricultural activities but section 15.2-2288 of the Virginia Code is not clear. Two Virginia oyster farmers, Anthony Bavuso and Greg Garrett, were pursued by York County zoning officials; though both won their cases, the county appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court, claiming that their residences served as the principal use of the land and therefore required a special use permit from the county to operate an oyster farm (i.e., engaging in aquaculture).
Passage of HB 1089 will clarify that "agricultural products" means any livestock, aquaculture, poultry, horticultural, floricultural, viticulture, silvicultural, or other farm crops. Concise definitions of terms like "agricultural products" will help farmers avoid unnecessary and costly court battles in the future.
House Bill 1089 - Zoning - Clarifies definition of "agricultural products"
HB 1089 was introduced by Delegate Rick Morris.
See details about HB 1089 at www.lis.virginia.gov/HB1089
Read FTCLDF's article about Anthony Bavuso's case.
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Action #1
Sign Petition and Follow Up with Phone Calls
Sign the Online Petition Now to email your message to the committee members asking them to support HB 1089 then follow up with phone calls.
Simply enter your full contact information so legislators can know that you are a Virginia resident. Your message will go to the full committee and you can also choose to send it to the editor of a local newspaper: I urge you to vote YES on HB 1089 to help protect small farmers from burdensome regulations by clarifying the meaning of "agricultural products" to be consistent with the definition already in VA statutes 3.2-6400. Add your personal message in the comment field. Please share this link with others and encourage them to do the same, www.bit.ly/ftc-va2. To be more effective, follow up the email sent via the petition by calling the members of the Senate Committee. See phone numbers below. p>
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Attend Senate Committee hearing scheduled for Thursday, February 27, 2014 at approximately 12:30 p.m. The hearing will start one half hour after Senate adjourns. On Thursday after the Senate adjourns, you can check www.bit.ly/1ljfOKp to see exactly what time the Senate will reconvene in their committees. The location of the hearing is:
Senate Room B
General Assembly Building
1000 Bank Street
Richmond, VA 23218 [directions]
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Sample Message
Your calls and emails make a difference.
If you send an email, please be sure to personalize your message! To make a much bigger impact, add a couple of sentences about who you are and why HB 1089 matters to you.
SAMPLE MESSAGE for emails or calls:
Dear Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee,
Please support HB 1089. HB 1089 will help protect small farmers from burdensome regulations by clarifying the meaning of an "agricultural product" to be consistent with the definition already in VA statutes 3.2-6400.
Thank you for your support.
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Committee Email Address List
To be more effective, please follow up your email with a phone call to the legislators.
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Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit [EIN 20-8605130], defends the rights and broadens the freedoms of family farms and artisan food producers while protecting consumer access to raw milk and nutrient-dense foods. Learn more About Us or read the FTCLDF 2012 Summary.
Membership benefits include the possibility of representation in court; the Fund typically pays for all court costs. The Fund is not an insurance company and cannot guarantee representation on all legal matters. Your membership fees and donations help to keep local food sources available and preserve family farms facing unjust enforcement actions.
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Please forward this alert to others who are concerned about protecting locally-sourced nutrient-dense foods and preserving sustainable small family farms and artisan food producers as well as defending the rights to sell and to access the foods of one's choice from the source of one's choice.
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