6/5 Action Alert! Vermont Supreme Court Rules that Farming is Not Exempt from Municipal Regulation
The Vermont Supreme Court issued a ruling on May 30, 2025, determining that farming and outdoor cannabis cultivation are not exempt from all municipal regulation, but that the reference to the Required Agricultural Practices in 24 V.S.A. § 4413(d)(1)(A) [the Municipal Zoning Statute] refers to the policies and standards intended to reduce agricultural water pollution only. The court concluded that municipalities may regulate all other aspects of farming and cannabis cultivation, thereby setting a new precedent in stark contrast to the general statewide belief that farming is exempt from municipal zoning regulations.
The court justifies its decision with statutory language that references the Required Agricultural Practices Rule. While the rule defines farming and agricultural practices in general, technically the rule’s purpose is to regulate water quality on farms. Ignoring the long established historic practice of municipalities who have understood for decades that they don’t have jurisdiction over regulating farms, the court decided the existing language would be reason enough to rule that municipalities can govern areas that are outside of the water quality regulations of farms.
The impacts of this could be far reaching. Municipalities being able to determine where farming may or may not occur, what types of permitting may or may not need to happen for particular farm projects, and more, would add yet more burdens and hurdles to the community farms we need to thrive. Rural VT is committed to the right to food, food sovereignty, climate change adaptation, and the fundamental ability of people to responsibly grow food (in accordance with the RAPs) on the land they have access to for personal or commercial use; we are deeply concerned that this ruling will discourage farming and local food production by allowing towns to create a patchwork regulatory framework that puts further barriers to farming and farm viability while we’re continuing to lose farms and need more, not less, incentives to farm and produce food for our communities.
The 2025 legislative session is not over yet AND we need your support in reaching out to your Representatives and Senators NOW to ask them to amend the municipal zoning law to state that municipalities may not regulate agriculture, as it is under the jurisdiction of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets. Representatives and Senators on the agricultural committees are working on language with Legislative Council, but we know that the full House and Senate ultimately need to be in support of fixing this issue in law now!
TAKE ACTION!
Please send your version of the following statement to the following leadership of the State House, including your own Representatives and Senators. Please include a sentence about why this is important to you in your own words - that makes all the difference!
“Dear Representatives and Senators, I am deeply concerned about the recent Vermont Supreme Court Ruling regarding the City of Essex Junction’s ability to regulate farming and the court's decision that municipalities can regulate farms aside from regulating water quality. The court has been ignoring the historic practice that municipalities and farmers for decades interpreted the law in 24 V.S.A. § 4413(d)(1)(A) as if municipalities don’t have jurisdiction over farming in Vermont. This change would deeply discourage farming by allowing towns to create a patchwork regulatory framework that puts further barriers to farming and farm viability while we’re continuing to lose farms and need more, not less, incentives to farm and produce food for our communities.
This matters to me, because [...]
I respectfully ask you to address and correct the Supreme Court's course with legislation immediately and before the adjournment of the 2025 legislative session.
Respectfully submitted,
Your Name/ Farm Name (if applicable)”
additional actions!
Call the Vermont State House at (802) 828-2229 and leave a personal message for your Senator and Representative; find your legislator here
Email your message to your legislator and “CC” legislative leadership, including:
President of the Senate Pro Tem, Senator Phil Baruth: pbaruth@leg.state.vt.us
Speaker of the House, Rep. Jill Krowinski: jkrowinski@leg.state.vt.us
Majority Leader of the House, Rep. Lori Houghton: LHoughton@leg.state.vt.us
Minority Leader of the House, Rep. Patricia McCoy: pmccoy@leg.state.vt.us
Majority Leader of the Senate, Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale:
kramhinsdale@leg.state.vt.usMinority Leader of the Senate, Sen. Scott Beck: sbeck@leg.state.vt.us
Chair of the House Ag Committee, Rep. David Durfee: ddurfee@leg.state.vt.us
Vice Chair of the House Ag Committee, Rep. Heather Surprenant
hsurprenant@leg.state.vt.usChair of the Senate Ag Committee, Sen. Russ Ingalls: ringalls@leg.state.vt.us
Vice Chair of the Senate Ag Committee, Sen. Joe Major: jmajor@leg.state.vt.us