Welcome to our small town, stranger, but don’t try to
change our rural way of life. Now, sign on the dotted
line.
Thanks to a “right to farm provision,”
adopted as part of a Utah town’s development code last March,
officials can now make new property owners sign such agreements.
“It’s a stipulation that this here is a
cow-and-horse community and if you come here, you fully understand
the type of environment we have and you’re not going to change it,”
explains Oakley Mayor Ken Woolstenhulme.
The
provision says newcomers must acknowledge that “farm work hours run
late and begin early and that farm operations may contribute to
noises and odors objectionable to some subdivision residents.”
Oakley, population about 750, is one of several
small towns in Summit County experiencing spill-over boom from Salt
Lake City and Park City to the west. County officials also recently
approved a six-month building moratorium to give planners time to
adopt a “vision and long-range plan” for the area.
Change seems inevitable, but for now the new
code assuages the worries of old-time Oakley residents. Mayor
Woolstenhulme says many newcomers fit in, but he wonders how much
they will change the town: “The people who are buying these lots
and building these homes – they are not people who will sit down
and milk a cow.”
– Chris
Smith
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Leaving room for cows and horses.
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