It Doesn’t Seem to Matter
Recently Geauga County Common Pleas Court Judge Paschke released her ruling in the case of “Bainbridge Township Zoning Inspector vs. Kelly’s Working Well Farm,” finding our educational programming — summer camps and farm immersion home-school cooperative — qualify as agritourism, and that there is no legal basis for the township’s claim the farm was/is operating a school or day-care.
On Monday evening, Sept. 11, a handful of farm supporters attended the Bainbridge Township trustees meeting. We wanted to share our stories and information so they could make the best decision for the township as they deliberated about whether to appeal the recent ruling. We were surprised to learn the facts and our perspectives didn’t matter.
Trustees told us “it isn’t personal,” it isn’t even about our farm and whether or not it is safe for agritourism. They don’t like the law and they want to use our farm as an example to change it; they want to make it more difficult for farms to engage in agritourism. So, they decided to appeal the judge’s ruling.
We learned it didn’t matter that we have resolved all of the citations involving buildings we would like to use for agritourism (according to plans approved our engineers and architects).
Meanwhile, the fire inspector refuses to inspect, insisting he is not qualified to determine if the hazardous conditions that he originally had cited still remain. In her ruling, Judge Paschke noted use of a separate building inspector was not part of the agreement, implying the responsibility for inspection is his alone.
Further, it didn’t matter that since signing the consent decree we have not allowed any agritourism participant inside our buildings, in spite of the false township claims.
It also didn’t matter that early in 2022, after the farm grounds were inspected and found to contain no serious or distinct hazards, the zoning and fire inspector signed an agreement allowing us to conduct agritourism activities on the farm. Less than a month later, the township initiated the legal proceeding accusing us of violating the agreement by stating our intention to hold summer farm camp.
And, apparently, it didn’t matter that, as we estimated, this case has used up nearly 1,000 hours of taxpayer-supported work by township and county officials, and administrative workers since the spring of 2022 alone.
And, sadly, it doesn’t seem to matter that countless children and their families have enjoyed coming to the farm, and many have chosen to send their kids to the farm for summer camp or to be members of the learning collective. Their passion for the farm and what it has meant for their learning and development didn’t matter.
Appealing the judge’s ruling keeps us in a state of limbo and makes it impossible for us to resolve the citations. This prevents us from using our buildings to accomplish our educational mission. We agree the agritourism law, as written, is vague, and we clearly have suffered as a result.
Rather than continuing with this litigation, perhaps trustees should focus on working with local farmers to craft legislation to improve the law.
Kelly Clark, Owner and President
Kelly’s Working Well Farm
Bainbridge Township
