Garrett Submits Revised Oyster Farm Plan

By Sam Thrift Thursday, October 27, 2011

York County Realtor Greg Garrett will go before the York Planning Commission on Dec. 14 with a new plan to operate an oyster farm from his Dandy waterfront home, more than a year after the group denied recommendation for his previous oyster harvesting plan.

Garrett sent an email to his neighbors Tuesday informing them of the changes included in his new plan and asking for their support, something he did not have fully during the first public hearing before the Planning Commission in November 2010.

The memorandum from the November 2010 meeting said Garrett proposed to grow, harvest, shuck, package and ship oysters at his rural residential-zoned property on the York River. This would require his business, called the Greg Garrett Oyster and Seafood Company, to have a Special Use Permit because the activities involved in harvesting oysters were considered to be “materially similar” to the scope of a waterman’s operation. The county’s zoning ordinance defines a waterman as “an individual who is self-employed in the harvesting of seafood for sale.”

Garrett’s original plan stated the oyster harvesting operation would have up to 490 bottom oyster cages, 200 oyster bags, 400 bottom oyster cages or bags on eight pilings installed with cable, 400 floats and 40 lantern nets. These would be used to grow and cultivate oysters off the shore of his property. He planned to ship most of the oysters in shell and shuck a small amount on his pier. Garrett said 250,000 oysters made up his oyster operation back in 2010, according to the minutes from the meeting.

The minutes also mentioned that Garrett’s attorney, Harold Barton, proposed the operation should be considered a farming activity rather than a waterman’s activity, which would allow the operation in his neighborhood under current agriculture zoning ordinances. A change in those ordinances is going to be discussed at a meeting next month; click here to read more about the proposed changes that would, if approved, affect aquaculture in residential zones.

Neighbors voiced concerns during the November 2010 public hearing about the noise, smell and traffic that came with having an operation of that magnitude in a residential area, as Garrett described in his 2010 application.

Those who spoke for Garrett’s operation argued that bringing new businesses and cleaning the Chesapeake Bay is important for the community. According to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, a single adult oyster cleans the Chesapeake Bay, purging 60 gallons of water a day. At maturity, there are about 500 oysters in a typical oyster cage. Read more about oyster farming by clicking here.

Agreeing with neighbors’ concerns, the Planning Commission voted 6-0 to deny recommending Garrett’s request to the Board of Supervisors. Garrett asked that his request be pulled from the supervisors’ agenda, so they never considered his application.

In the meantime, State Sen. Tommy Norment (R-3), who had written a letter to the county in support of Garrett’s application proposed state legislation that would keep localities from having a say in an owner’s ability to start aquafarming on private waterfront properties. If the state legislation had passed, Garrett would have no longer needed the Board of Supervisors’ approval to move ahead with his plan.

The proposed state legislation rankled the York Board of Supervisors, who complained that it took too much power away from localities. The bill passed the Senate’s Agriculture, Conservation and Natural Resources Committee 9-6 on Feb. 9, but later failed to make it out of the House’s Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee. Read about the proposed legislation by clicking here.

Garrett addressed his neighbors’ past concerns in this week’s email about his new plan, saying there will be no smell, minimal noise, almost no truck traffic, no shucking or outside storage on-site and no customers at his property. He also mentioned his operation has been going on for more than two years, “growing approximately 400,000 to 500,000 oysters for most of this year.” He concluded by apologizing for creating a controversy over his oyster farm, asking for input from neighbors and extending an invitation for them to see the farm for themselves.

John Bull, director of public relations at the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, said Garrett’s operation is large, but nowhere near the largest in the state. Bull’s organization cannot, by law, reveal how many oysters Garrett has harvested and does not know how Garrett calculates the number of oysters he is growing on his leased water bottom.

“Mr. Garrett has proposed what would be, if approved, one of the largest oyster farming operations in the entire Chesapeake Bay, but he has not obtained the necessary upland use permits from York County,” Bull said. “Until he does, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission considers his application to be on hold.”

Bull said Garrett does have permits from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission to do oyster farming on water bottoms he leases from the state; the process has been going on since the 1800s, according to Bull.

The York County Planning Commission’s committee to review proposed Zoning Ordinance text amendments pertaining to agriculture and aquaculture uses will meet next Thursday, Nov. 3, at 5 p.m. in the East Room at York Hall.

The Planning Commission will meet Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. for a public hearing on Garrett’s revised application. If you cannot make the meeting, you can watch it online by clicking here.