Farm retail sales buildings

[Ord. No. 08-31, 10-7-2009]

(a) Area by right. A "farm retail sales building" is defined as a single building or group of buildings located upon a farm, the principle use of which is the sale of farm or farm-related products at retail to the general public.
Retail sales may be conducted by a farmer upon a farm (1) within a principle dwelling; (2) within a barn, garage, storage shed or similar accessory farm building; or (3) within a single building devoted solely to retail sales provided that the total cumulative floor area of any and all such building(s) does not exceed 1,000 square feet per farm by right. A barn, garage, or a greenhouse shall not be considered to be a farm retail sales building if no retail sales are conducted anywhere within the building and if such building is not open to the general public.
Within any such farm retail sales building, storage areas not open to the public shall not be counted toward the 1,000 square foot maximum floor area allowed per farm, provided that all such areas shall be clearly identified and marked as such, and shall not be open to the general public at any time whatsoever. If any portion of a farm retail sales building shall be open to the general public, including, but not limited to, storage, growing or greenhouse areas, it shall be counted toward the 1,000 square foot maximum area.
(b) Area by special use permit. Whenever the owner of a farm as defined herein can demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Zoning Board of Review that an additional amount of square footage may be added to the maximum allowed square footage area of a farm retail sales building without being detrimental to the public health, safety and welfare, the Zoning Board of Review board may grant an additional amount of square footage to a farm retail sales building not to exceed 1,000 square feet for up to a total maximum square footage of 1,600 square feet. Such allowance shall be in the form of a special use permit as provided for in Article 18.
In the granting of a special use permit for such additional square footage, the Zoning Board of Review shall judge the application by the provisions of § 18-3 and may impose any conditions it deems necessary and reasonable under the provision of § 18-6. Under no circumstance may the Zoning Board of Review board grant relief under this provision beyond the maximum square footage of 1,600 square feet as stated herein.
(c) Design review standards. All building plans involving farm retail sales activities, whether in whole or in part, shall be reviewed by the Planning Board, in accordance with the provisions of Article 12, with a view to maintaining the rural characteristics of the specific area, and the community in general, prior to the issuance of any building permit by the Building Official.