Considering Farm Tourism

Yesterday, Marketplace on WAMC ran a story about agritourism: "Farm tourism puts vacationers to work--and they love it." Featured in the story is a chicken farm in Minnesota with an ancillary business called AirB-N-BAWK! Guests have a choice of two accommodations: an outbuilding that is one-third chicken coop and two-thirds vacation rental or a tiny house on stilts in the woods next to the chicken yard. According to the owners of the farm, income from vacation rentals adds nearly 20 percent to the farm's annual profit.

Screen capture: AirB-B-BAWK! Video

What's described seems a far cry from what's being proposed for the farm on Sharptown Road in Stuyvesant: twenty "agro-tourism cabins," a guest house, a store, and nearly ninety parking spaces for visitors and guests.

Opponents of the plan proposed for Stuyvesant argue that what is ancillary about the plan is not the short-term rental use but rather the agricultural component. Compared with the farm Marketplace chose to exemplify farm tourism, that certainly seems to be the case.

COPYRIGHT 2022 CAROLE OSTERINK