I received a package in the mail the other day from the Town of Plattsburgh with all the complaint letters they received pertaining to our attempt to start a small sustainable farm on my families property on Cumberland Head behind Champlain Park. So I'm going to uploading each letter and writing a response. So without further adieu here is the first post in my "People Be Stupid" series.

If you can't read the above letter, here is a link to a larger sized version. Link

First off it’s vacant land of course it’s not going to be maintained to the same standards as an active farm. If we had been permitted to farm the land it would have been maintained!

Secondly we THOUGHT that we could put a couple animals on the property, the town codes and zoning laws are so complicated that even the people that enforce them don’t understand them! We originally were told that we had to get a variance and then after going through 2 zoning meeting we were told to go to the planning board instead because we needed an approved site plan! (Which needed to be drawn up by a certified engineer = to expensive. Then we were told we needed a water run-off study = even more expensive. So that’s what’s ultimately led to us giving up.)

Third, my Grandparents bought the land to one, prevent a development and two, so my grandfather could plant some crops (which he did). My grandfather maintained the land for MY families enjoyment, NOT for the people in the community. If we can no longer ENJOY the property why maintain it? Also, why does it matter if my mother doesn’t live in the area? She’s wasn’t the one planning on farming it. It was me and my husband who live less then a mile away. Side note: Before my grandfather died he was planning on building a barn so my sister could get a horse, we were only continuing where he left off. My grandfather grew up on a farm and he’d always wanted to get a few animals, but he didn’t have the time and my sister and I were to young to be of any help.

Forth, just because we planned on having chickens doesn’t mean they would have to deal with a rooster crowing. Meat birds mature at 8-12 weeks and roosters normally start crowing at around 12wks so they would most likely be processed before they got too loud (when they first start crowing you can barely hear them). Smell? animals kept on pasture don’t smell (much) and we only have 2 pigs!

In closing, people are stupid and these people especially. If they had any concerns they could have stopped and asked us! We were there every single day and my dad lives right next to the property. All they had to do was stop and ask us what our plans were and express their concerns and I would have been happy to explain to them the difference between sustainable and traditional-intensive farming.

Finally, what is these people's issues with deer, bunnies and foxes? OMG if you have an issue with wildlife move to the city, where you can deal with rats, raccoons and stray cats instead!

Check back soon for my next installment of "People Be Stupid".