Zane Sells' corn maze is legal now, but it still doesn't mean that he's practicing agricultural tourism as defined by city-county planning ordinances.
Sells has a 90-acre farm on Hastings Road in the southeastern part of the county near the Davidson County line.
He opened a corn maze this fall, hoping to take advantage of what's called agricultural tourism. Under that concept, farmers can run wineries, corn mazes, outdoor events, restaurants, small stores and even bed-and-breakfast operations and make extra money without having to go through rezoning.
What Sells didn't realize was that he was supposed to get a permit from city-county inspectors before opening his maze. So he was in violation of the regulations.
"It has helped my business," Sells said. "I ask them if they don't mind coming to an illegal corn maze."
Sells decided to get a permit and went to city-county inspections.
Charles Norton, the director of inspections, said that Sells received a temporary permit to run the maze.
But Sells also found out that he still can't be under the agricultural tourism provisions because his farm is in the wrong part of the county.
When the county passed the agricultural tourism regulations in 2008, it specified that agricultural tourism could only take place in areas of the county that are designated as rural. Those areas are in the far west near the Yadkin River and in the northeast beyond Walkertown and Rural Hall.
Sells' farm is classed, like the rest of southeastern Forsyth, as a future growth area.
That didn't keep Sells from getting his temporary permit, but could make it more expensive over time for him to run a corn maze.
If he had qualified for agricultural tourism he could have paid a one-time fee of $100 to operate the maze. Without the agricultural tourism designation, Sells will have to get temporary permits that cost only $25, but which last only 45 days.
At least it is cheaper than a long-term permit this year, since Sells plans to close the maze Nov. 22.
Mark Tucker, the county extension director, said the agricultural rules are confusing to some farmers.
"Farmers have a hard time seeing the difference between a corn maze and pick-your-own strawberries and blueberries, where you don't have to have any kind of permit," Tucker said.
It's also confusing that the rules change from place to place: Some counties regulate such things as corn mazes, but others impose no requirements, he said.
Sells said he wants to check into the agricultural tourism regulations because it doesn't seem right to him that his farm shouldn't qualify for the designation.
He said that much of the land in his neighborhood is still rural.
"I don't want the county to look bad, but some of the regulations don't make sense," Sells said.
wyoung@wsjournal.com | 727-7369
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