He’s especially concerned that the county Planning Commission has recommended placing stultifying restrictions on an industry it purports to encourage, having identified aquaculture — along with agriculture and tourism — as one of three main engines of economic growth and vitality in Northampton, reports DelmarvaNow.
County officials maintain the restrictions, which were included in an ordinance adopted by the commission and forwarded to the Board of Supervisors, will be changed in a way that fixes the problem.
Jones, an aquaculturalist for nearly 20 years, grows seed clams in nurseries along the eastern shoreline. The much-debated zoning ordinance amendments do not allow seed production in the conservation district, which covers nearly the entire seaside.
“If they cut off seed production on the seaside, they have killed the clam industry on the Eastern Shore,” Jones said in an interview last week.
Delmarva Zoning to Wash Away Seaside Aquaculture
UK - Hank Jones is upset about mistakes in the proposed zoning ordinance that could jeopardize his livelihood and anyone else trying to make a living raising clams on the seaside in Northampton County.
