ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WBEN) - Even though the official beginning of autumn isn’t for another week, families across the region are getting their homes ready with their seasonal decorations.
For Bridgid Hinman, who operates the Hinman Family Pumpkin Stand on South Abbott Road in Orchard Park, this year was supposed to be her 15th year of running the pumpkin stand.
But before autumn even begins, her pumpkin stand will be shut down. Thursday is supposed to be the final day after Hinman received a cease-and-desist notice from the Town of Orchard Park.
“Their only statement was that they’re not grown on property,” Hinman said. “I asked to see the code. They cited some code book and said you have to look for it myself.”
When Hinman began her pumpkin stand, she grew them in her backyard, which she said is zoned for both agricultural and residential. However, when her stand became successful, she began growing the pumpkins outside of the town and bringing them back to her home.
The town was aware of the pumpkin farm for years but did not act until last year when businesses complained about her operations. They issued a letter to her last October that said the sale of produce can only be on the farm where the produce is grown.
“We were honest with them and said because we are big now, we do grow them off property,” she said. “COVID happened. We were not able to go in for a variance due to my husband’s work schedule -he’s an essential worker – and the courts being at reduced capacity. At the end of August…we approached the Orchard Park Code and asked how we can make this happen this year until we can get a variance to secure the future of the Hinman Family Pumpkin Stand?”
She claimed the town told them to simply tone down the scale of their operations, which she did. But once they began operations this year, they were swiftly told by the town to shut it down.
“When we walked into the town hall the next day to ask why, because we complied with their request, their only statement was that they were not grown on property,” she said.
Her financial situation became trickier because not only did she lose the pumpkin stand, but she recently became among the thousands of Western New Yorkers who lost their jobs due in the pandemic economy.
Orchard Park’s Supervising Code Enforcement Officer, John Bremer, said the town had no choice but to shut down her operations because she did not receive the variance.
“She should have applied for the zoning variance when we told her to,” Bremer said. “There’s only been two weeks where the town was shut down with COVID. Otherwise, we’ve been operating and we would have gotten her through the process. We would have got her in front of the board. I can’t say whether (the variance) would have been granted or not. That was her choice not to come in.”
The earliest she could get in front of the zoning board is in late-October. But at that point, she will have lost out on a significant amount of sales.
Hinman feels like she’s been bullied and lied to by the town government.
“They gave us their statement (to) tone it down and they retracted it,” she said.
A change.org petition was created as a last-ditch effort to keep the stand open. It already received more than 1,000 supporters. Supporters of the petition criticized the Town of Orchard Park for effectively shutting down a family-run business.
“The support that I’ve received – the phone calls, the texts, the messages, and comments on the (petition), my personal Facebook page, the comments on the pumpkin stand’s Facebook page – is just overwhelmingly supportive and I’m very thankful,” she said. “If nothing else, I know I’ve done everything I possibly could to keep this open.”
She said if she can never have the pumpkin stand back in front of her home, she’s going to sell her property.
“If my town can’t support me, I don’t want to support it,” she said.
When asked if she would sue the town she said she had not thought about it.
Town of Orchard Park Supervisor Patrick Keem didn’t entirely rule out that the stand would be gone forever.
“Is it set in stone on my end? Things never are," Keem said. "I’m always open to discussion and always trying to help business, especially small businesses.”
Keem and other members of the Orchard Park Town Board briefly discussed the Hinman’s issue during Wednesday night’s work session.
They pondered a special use permit for Hinman’s property but said it would not apply in her situation.
Board members also pointed out that there were people who signed the petition who were not from Orchard Park.
Keem told WBEN that town codes must be followed in order to keep the town in the condition it’s in.
Still, Hinman remains frustrated over what she described as vague town code. Specifically, she highlighted the town's right-to-farm declaration and said it's explanation of who can act on behalf of farmers could be open to interpretation.