Circumstances Could Mean a Peck of Trouble for Roadside Produce Stands

By George Berkheimer, STAFF WRITER

The arrival of late spring heralds the season of the roadside produce stand which, at first glance, appears to be a relatively low-risk proposition.
The primitive structures suggest low overhead and minimum operating costs. The traffic they draw reveals a flourishing market for the items they sell. Advertising is cheap (if not practically non-existent) and some have been in business for scores of years, serving generations of repeat customers. Without a doubt, produce stands enjoy some unique advantages compared to other merchants.
But then again, their troubles are just as unique. One of the most visible cases in point is the Harbin Farms stand in Ellicott City, in existence for more than 90 years - and currently in the eye of a zoning storm.
According to co-owner Kim Harbin-Taylor, the original Harbin family owners started the business by selling corn and tomatoes from the porch of their farmhouse around 1915 to supplement income received from supplying local Acme and A&P grocery stores.
In 1958 the operation moved to the corner of present-day Route 99 and Old Mill Road, which is now open from April through December.
Over the years, the business learned to adapt when times got tough. "Like most landowners, the family sold off property whenever they needed a new piece of machinery or had to cover other expenses," Harbin-Taylor said.
And therein lies the seed of the stand's current dilemma.

Technicalities
The Harbin family matriarch sold off the only parcel of land still adjoining the Harbin Farms stand to developers in 2005, which placed the stand in direct violation of its residential zoning.
It wasn't an easy decision, but a practical one, since the family had ceased farming the land in 1997. "We couldn't farm it ourselves, or pay anyone to farm it, because we typically lost about 80% of our crops to deer," Harbin-Taylor said.
Howard County officials were blind to the violation until a neighbor's complaint prompted an inspection two years ago.
Following the county's rejection of a grandfathering request for the property's use, the family has now requested a change of zoning from residential to business. But that will mean higher taxes for the stand.
"It's not an ideal solution for us, but it will keep us in business," Harbin-Taylor said.
A Planning Board hearing on the request was scheduled for May 28, and the Howard County Council, which acts as the Zoning Board, will render a decision on the request at a date to be determined.

Eminent Domain Thwarted
Jim and Joan Baugher of Ellicott City faced a similar threat to their livelihood in 1999 when the Howard County Board of Education threatened eminent domain to claim their land for the nearby Worthington Elementary School.
"Our customers saved us," said Joan Baugher, recalling a vocal grassroots campaign that brought a flurry of complaints to the school board's doorstep.
"This stand has provided our only income for 58 years," she said. "Customers were upset because we are the only farm still farming in the Ellicott City area and they didn't want to lose us. I don't know what we would have done if our friends hadn't stood up for us."

Other Concerns
Baugher's Produce & Snowball Stand enjoys a steady stream of regulars and chance customers from late June through Halloween. The casual observer would be right to question its ability to satisfy demand with only 13.5 acres of arable land to speak of.
The answer has been the Baughers' reliance on contractor farmers who have supplied additional produce for the stand for the past 12 years.
Although the contractors are secure enough to keep supplying the Baughers for the foreseeable future, "It's getting harder to get produce from other locations," she said
Harbin-Taylor has noticed the same trend.
"Other farmers sell off land just like our family did," she said, and on the other side of the coin, "there's no affordable land left for anyone to purchase and try to get into the farming business."
Likewise, Harbin-Taylor has observed that fewer farms are being passed on to heirs these days.
"We all want something better for our kids," she said. "Farmers are no different. They're sending their kids off to college to get something better, and the kids are finding it away from the farm."
Linda Heigh has operated Jenny's produce stand on East Ivory Road (just off Route 32) for five years. Three years ago she was forced to relocate her stand further from the highway due to construction of a new access ramp.
Business hasn't suffered despite the inconvenience, Heigh said. But she now finds herself with a different quandary.
"I manage just fine as long as the State [Highway Administration] doesn't take my signs down" from the Route 32 roadside, she said, which happens frequently. "It's still easy to find [small scale] farmers who come to me to sell their produce, but it's hard to do that if drivers can't find me."

Et Tu, Route 1?
Pop & Sons Produce, a new seasonal operation along Route 1 in Elkridge, moved into a stand last year that was closed by another vendor in 2001.
"We knew the landowner and our family has been in the produce business for years, so we felt there wasn't much risk tied to this location," said Mike Brendel, whose family operates Holland's Produce in Baltimore.
But could such a produce stand along Route 1 present a target of opportunity for the corridor revitalization effort because it would stand vacant for most of the year?
Spokesperson Kimberley Flowers of the county's Department of Planning and Zoning said it's "not very likely" such a scenario would play out. "They are actually permitted by right in [Corridor Activity Center] zoning," she said.
Still, Pop & Sons is the only directly accessible fresh produce vendor along the entire Route 1 Corridor in Howard County.
"It's getting harder to find produce stands in areas that are convenient to the public," lamented Attorney Tom Meachum, who is representing the Harbin Farms stand in its zoning dispute. "It seems [counterintuitive] to make these stands go to commercial areas and makes more sense to have them closer to residential areas, as long as they're safe."
The county's policy of tying produce stands to farms is a potential Catch-22 for the future of traditional businesses that offer an alternative to large chain grocers, Meachum said.
Moreover, their loss would mean consumers stand to lose even more access to guaranteed fresh products devoid of troublesome wax and the environmental baggage of industrial farming techniques.
"It might not be a bad idea to revisit zoning regulations ... and allow these stands the same flexibility that's granted for snowball stands," Meachum said. "Our farms are continually diminishing. If they fall by the wayside, what's going to happen to our local produce stands?"