To the editor:

The farms and farmers in Westport are one of the major factors that define our town physically and visually. They also underpin our values, along with our waters and fisherman, our local businesses, churches, schools, and outstanding community efforts. 

Earlier in the 20th century, the farms also defined us economically, and we benefit from all that is left of that era.  For the last few decades, the life of farms has been dependent on the current owners — there is frequently not a next generation willing to keep the farms going because of financial pressures most of us can relate to.  We value the rural character of our town almost above all else, and if we don’t know that farms continue to hold on by a few threads, we might keep that in mind.

Today, farms cannot survive solely through traditional activities. Agritourism is a critically important activity that helps farms in New England compete against the large industrial farms in the mid-west and west.

I’m hopeful we can pass the clarification of local zoning law to support agritourism in Westport.  Clarifying our zoning by-laws to support agritourism is essential for the preservation of the rural character of Westport.  This is not an expansion of law; it is indeed a clarification based on state law.

Now, that being said, the farmers also must be careful to work with their neighbors and honor the rights of others.  This always must be the case, whether it’s sound, smells, or dust.  It’s always going to be a balancing act, but the activities of agritourism can and do co-exist well in communities such as ours.  There are specific and scientific measurements of sound that provide legal levels, and when they are honored, we all benefit as a community.  The proposed zoning clarification will not change those acceptable and legal levels.

Barbara Hanley

Westport