So what is Article 6 and why are we so strongly opposed to it? This is a photo of our home. We bought it almost 4 years ago with the intention of restoring this 100 year old farm and as a place to raise our children. Article 6 will be on the ballot in Hampstead on March 12th. It was brought by citizens petition by our neighbors, Brenda and Matt Harold, after they collected 100 signatures to rezone land (including part of ours) from residential/agricultural to Commercial C1. They brought this to vote by petition after the planning board rejected their request to have this area rezoned commercial since other abutters were strongly against it and because of the harm it would do to us (as the largest parcel of land). The Harolds bought their home that has a large detached garage two years ago. At the time, they were aware that it was a residential property. They have now decided that no one should live on this end of Stage Rd anymore and that they have the right to rezone their property and the property of others to commercial.

Our land when we first moved in.

View of the back corner of our land prior to planting our vineyard.

Planting our vineyard. We planted on all of the cleared land. We have an additional 4.5 acres of uncleared land that we plan to use for more vineyard while leaving a wooded buffer around it.

We planted six different grape varietals.

Blue grow tubes act like mini-green houses for new vines.

This is the view from our home looking towards Bricketts Mill Road that is behind our land.

Niagara grapes almost ready to harvest. These grapes are used to make our Niagara, Niagara 1848, Minnie's Bubbles and Farm Stand White.

Stomping grapes makes helping in the vineyard a lot more fun!

The crusher/destemmer getting the grapes ready for the press.

Our hydraulic press is much faster than our kids at crushing grapes and pressing juice. Buckets of juice are dumped into tanks to ferment.

Harvesting Marechal Foch. These grapes are used to make our Marechal Foch, Jay's Rose and Barn Door Red.

More grapes ready to be made into wine.

Harvesting takes a couple of weeks since different varieties of grapes are ready at different times.

Leon Millet ready to harvest. These are used to make our Callum's Red, Baby Blush and Barn Door Red.

Red wine being transfer into oak barrels to age.

Bottling wine. This is where bottles are all washed, filled, corked, topped and labeled by hand.

Our final product.

Many people have asked us if Sweet Baby Vineyard is a commercial business. The answer is NO. We are a farm which falls under agricultural zoning, not commercial zoning. Below is the whole nitty gritty NH law...

21:34-a Farm, Agriculture, Farming. – I. The word "farm" means any land, buildings, or structures on or in which agriculture and farming activities are carried out or conducted and shall include the residence or residences of owners, occupants, or employees located on such land. Structures shall include all farm outbuildings used in the care of livestock, and in the production and storage of fruit, vegetables, or nursery stock; in the production of maple syrup; greenhouses for the production of annual or perennial plants; and any other structures used in operations named in paragraph II of this section. II. The words "agriculture" and "farming" mean all operations of a farm, including: (a)(1) The cultivation, conservation, and tillage of the soil. (2) The storage, use of, and spreading of commercial fertilizer, lime, wood ash, sawdust, compost, animal manure, septage, and, where permitted by municipal and state rules and regulations, other lawful soil amendments. (3) The use of and application of agricultural chemicals. (4) The raising and sale of livestock which shall include but not be limited to all beef and dairy cattle, steer, oxen, goats, sheep, swine, horses, mules or other equidae, as well as domesticated strains of buffalo, bison, llamas, alpacas, emus, ostriches, poultry, rabbits, yaks, elk (Cervus canadensis), fallow deer (Dama dama), red deer (Cervus elephus), and reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). (5) The breeding, boarding, raising, training, riding instruction, and selling of equines. (6) The commercial raising, harvesting, and sale of fresh water fish or other aquaculture products. (7) The raising, breeding, or sale of poultry or game birds. (8) The raising of bees. (9) The raising, breeding, or sale of domesticated strains of fur-bearing animals. (10) The production of greenhouse crops. (11) The production, cultivation, growing, harvesting, and sale of any agricultural, floricultural, viticultural,forestry, or horticultural crops including, but not limited to, berries, herbs, honey, maple syrup, fruit, vegetables, tree fruit, grapes, flowers, seeds, grasses, nursery stock, sod, trees and tree products, Christmas trees grown as part of a commercial Christmas tree operation, trees grown for short rotation tree fiber, compost, or any other plant that can be legally grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. (b) (3) The transportation of farm workers. (4) Forestry or lumbering operations. (5) The marketing or selling at wholesale or retail, of any products from the farm, on-site and off-site, where not prohibited by local regulations. Marketing includes agritourism, which means attracting visitors to a farm to attend events and activities that are accessory uses to the primary farm operation, including, but not limited to, eating a meal, making overnight stays, enjoyment of the farm environment, education about farm operations, or active involvement in the activity of the farm. (6) Irrigation of growing crops from private water supplies or public water supplies where not prohibited by state or local rule or regulation. (7) The use of dogs for herding, working, or guarding livestock, as defined in RSA 21:34-a, II(a)(4). (8) The production and storage of compost and the materials necessary to produce compost, whether such materials originate, in whole or in part, from operations of the farm. III. A farm roadside stand shall remain an agricultural operation and not be considered commercial, provided that at least 35 percent of the product sales in dollar volume is attributable to products produced on the farm or farms of the stand owner. IV. Practices on the farm shall include technologies recommended from time to time by the university of New Hampshire cooperative extension, the New Hampshire department of agriculture, markets, and food, and appropriate agencies of the United States Department of Agriculture. V. The term "farmers' market" means an event or series of events at which 2 or more vendors of agricultural commodities gather for purposes of offering for sale such commodities to the public. Commodities offered for sale must include, but are not limited to, products of agriculture, as defined in paragraphs I-IV. "Farmers' market" shall not include any event held upon any premises owned, leased, or otherwise controlled by any individual vendor selling therein. VI. [Repealed.]

Source. 1961, 140:1. 1977, 95:1. 1979, 60:1. 1985, 6:1. 1997, 250:1. 1999, 191:2. 2005, 107:1. 2006, 11:5; 326:1. 2007, 157:1. 2008, 8:1, eff. July 4, 2008. 2014, 97:2, eff. Aug. 10, 2014. 2016, 267:1, 6, eff. June 16, 2016.

Many people have asked if producing wine or having wine tastings is commercial. The answer is still NO. Agriculture includes producing products using products or materials from the farm. Not all materials need to grow on that farm (for example an apple orchard that makes cider donuts brings in the sugar, wheat and other ingredients). Wine tastings and other activities where people come to learn about the vineyard and enjoy the vineyard are called Agritourism. These are not commercial activities. This is similar to picking apples, going to a farm to table dinner at a farm, visiting a horse barn for a trail ride or enjoying goat yoga.

This is what is actually being proposed. The three properties outlined in black are the ones we are discussing. While the Harold’s state there is commercial all around them, it is only across the street (which also has a residential home across from us who is strongly opposed to Article 6). The property on the Atkinson line is Woods Farm and you can see all the residential properties behind us. Our lot is the large one in the middle. Article 6 rezones the Harold’s property C1 and most of the lot with the empty brown house. Look carefully at what they are forcing on our property. The red would be rezoned commercial. This is our home, barn, garage and small building. These could be taxed at 100%. This is where we live and want to raise our children. The blue shows the majority of our land that would remain as residential, so the Harold’s can offer a large buffer. This residential land has no home, well or buildings. It is our backyard, vineyard and pool. It has no road access. Think about what this does to our property value. If we end up with an Olive Garden next door (which the Harold’s list as a pro on their website) and we decided we wanted to find a better place to raise our kids and farm, we are stuck. We can’t sell our home as residential. We can’t sell our vineyard as agricultural. How would we ever sell a property as commercial when the majority of the land is residential with no access, no buildings and no ability to use it as commercial?