Carroll commissioners voted unanimously Friday to enact a "right-to-farm" law that members of a Bachmans Valley citizens group say offers farmers too much protection.
The law, which took effect immediately, is broad, vague and Draconian, an attorney for the Bachman Valley Community Association wrote in a Nov. 30 letter asking the commissioners to postpone voting on the measure.
The residents became interested in the issue after flies that they HTC blamed on two nearby egg farms swarmed around their homes last summer.
The commissioners considered the right-to-farm law for nearly a year. Friday was the last day of their four-year term. A new board of commissioners, elected Nov. 8, takes office tomorrow.
Farmers have been asking for the law for about five years. It is designed to protect them from complaints about their operations if they are following generally accepted agricultural practices. Seven other Maryland counties and all 50 states have right-to-farm laws.
Carroll's law establishes a citizens committee to help resolve problems between farmers and neighbors. It requires that the county notify anyone who buys land about the law. At a meeting Friday morning, the commissioners increased the citizens panel -- called the reconciliation committee -- to five members from three. Commissioner Donald I. Dell, a Westminster dairy and grain farmer, opposed the change.