WASHINGTON PLANNING BOARD

Site Walk Minutes

April 25, 2021

Time: 11:00am

Members present: Andrew Hatch, Don Revane and Nan Schwartz.

Public present: Jenny Gilligan and Josh (James) Hall

We met at the Lucky 7 Farm Jenny and Josh gave us a tour and answered our questions about their farm business.

They bought the farm 4 years ago and have added the livestock through the years. They are a registered farm with the state in good standing and are licensed to process birds at the farm and sell them to customers. Jenny owns Abigail’s Bakery in Weare and they use that commercial license for processed food that they sell at the farm and at farmer’s markets. They sell whole and half pigs. The meat they sell at farmer’s markets is USDA inspected. Josh is a NH state licensed hunting and fishing guide and a hunter safety teacher. They are both involved with the Marlow School (where their daughter is enrolled) and do agricultural education with the kids. They have breeding stock including pigs, sheep and goats. They have 3 turkeys, geese and lots of laying chickens and bee hives. They raise garden vegetables for selling in their farm stand and at farmer’s markets, as well as eggs. There is plenty of parking for the farm stand. We noted that the extra activities that were mentioned on their website, but are not part of their business now, have been removed from the site. Our impression was that they are working hard and have a well-kept farm.

They own an adjacent house that is offered for rent on Airbnb that is separate of the farm business.

We looked over the application materials and determined that the site walk helped fill in the blanks for us. Hatch made a motion to approve the business permit application as a minor home business and not requiring a Site Plan Review, Revane seconded the motion and all voted in favor.

The site visit was adjourned at 11:40AM.

Respectfully submitted,

Nan Schwartz

Planning Board Secretary