Here Come the Pitchforks: County Comes After Small Farmers With Big Fines – Even If They Have a Business License!
The Daily Sheeple
www.TheDailySheeple.com
July 30th, 2012
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The assault on personal reliance, self dependency and the activities that made liberty-driven American agriculture the envy of the world in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries continues. On the heels of a an Oregon man being sentenced to jail for 30 days for rainwater collection and harvesting, Martha Boneta of Fauquier County, Virginia becomes the latest victim of a government boot to the throat:
Farmers in Fauquier County are planning to bring their pitchforks to an Aug. 2 hearing before the Board of Zoning Appeals to protest the arbitrary treatment of one of their own. On April 30, Zoning Administrator Kimberley Johnson sent Martha Boneta an official cease-and-desist notice for selling farm products and hosting a birthday party for her best friend’s 10-year-old daughter on her 70-acre Paris, Va., farm without a special administrative permit.
Johnson threatened to fine Boneta $5,000 per violation if she did not stop the alleged unlawful activities within 30 days. In doing so, Boneta’s fellow farmers say, Johnson stepped far beyond her authority. They’re supporting her appeal before the BZA because they rightly fear that left unchecked, this infringement on one farmer’s freedom to make a living will spread to other agricultural enterprises like a dangerous pest.
The Virginia Right to Farm Act prohibits local authorities from treating agricultural activity as a “nuisance” — which seems to be what’s happening here, since Johnson was reportedly responding to complaints from nearby residents. Boneta already had a business license the county issued her in June 2011 that allowed her to operate a “retail farm shop” on her property. Her license application specifically noted her intention to sell handspun yarns, birdhouses, soaps and other handicrafts in addition to fresh vegetables, eggs, herbs and honey.
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Y’know…I saw this video 2-3 years ago now where entire massive silos of grain in the USA were being squirelled away in the dead of night and when the company personnel were asked what was happening, the response was “we’re not allowed to discuss it”.
Curious indeed given the socio-economic collapse in the USA, the unprecedented loss of liberty and ludicrous restrictions of growing food for your own consumption etc, the sudden and devastating decimation of the agricultural sector due to “climate change”.
Almost as though the government knew years in advance what was going to happen and made sure they had the food reserves they needed well in advance…like for those nice big underground military facilities being built in record time and to deadlines.
But of course that would be conspiracy theory now wouldn’t it…
These are part of twenty year plans. We “conspiracy nuts” have a duty to practice what we preach: prepare. This battle is being fought on more levels than one. At the very core is the forces of God against the forces of Satan. We know the ending, but preparing will make life somewhat bearable.
The zoning administrator needs to go jump in the lake of the land developer that chopped up the property, creating the now Boneta farm, while stuffing tax credits ($) into his pocket. These groups are hardly real preservationists but enjoy a scheme for the rich to get richer while pointing fingers and harming farmers. They use county officials to strangle people, through administrative abuse and fines, so they will sell their farms to them on the cheap. Go Martha. Thank you for standing up to them.
Shout out to Farmer Martha Boneta!
YOU ARE AN AMERICAN HERO!
Please DO NOT GIVE UP. We are watching your story and your county.
Remember these names America, they are responsible: Kimberly Johnson (zoning), Peter Schwartz (PEC), Georgia Herbert(PEC), Peggy Richardson (PEC), Phil and Patty Thomas (PEC), John Miller (former Secret Service Agent).