Embattled farmer to get $250K loan from Baltimore County

Bobby Prigel can use Baltimore County’s loan to buy equipment and finish construction of his family creamery, which he considers ‘a do-or-die’ thing.

Baltimore County will formally loan $250,000 to a Glen Arm dairy farmer seeking to open a creamery on his property despite ongoing legal challenges from neighbors opposed to the business.

County Executive James T. Smith Jr. will present the loan to Bobby and Pam Prigel on Tuesday at their 280-acre Bellevale Farm, the only organic dairy farm in the county. The money will go toward purchasing equipment and finishing construction of the planned Prigel Family Creamery, a 10,000-square-foot processing plant fronted by retail space off Long Green Road.

At Smith’s request, the Baltimore County Council adopted zoning changes in May to allow creameries in rural conservation zones such as the one in which Bellevale sits. Bobby Prigel, a fourth-generation dairy farmer, has said selling milk products directly to consumers is the only way he can survive financially as a farmer.

“It’s a very important example of the value of family farming in Baltimore County,” said Ellen Kobler, a county spokeswoman. “If you want to have family farms, you have to do what you can to make them profitable.”

The Baltimore County Department of Economic Development approved the 10-year, 2 percent loan last year but was waiting for the legal issues to settle before awarding the money, said Chris McCollum, the agricultural liaison. The money is part of the county’s effort to help sustain active farming on family farms.

“Even though there are some state issues out there, ultimately we feel Mr. Prigel will prevail and he will be able to move forward with his plans,” said McCollum.

County zoning officials last summer granted Bellevale a special exception for the farm market and denied opponents’ request for a special hearing to determine if the creamery was allowed in a rural conservation zone. Administrative appeals on both issues were postponed pending the County Council’s vote.

A hearing on the farm market decision will be held this fall, while Bellevale’s lawyer has filed a motion to dismiss the zoning appeal in light of the council’s vote, lawyers on both sides said.

Opponents also have appealed a circuit court ruling in March that they have no right to sue to enforce a preservation easement on Prigel’s property. Prigel sold an agricultural easement over more than half his land to the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation in 1997, which opponents contend prohibits the creamery or any type of commercial development on the property. The foundation approved the creamery in 2007.

Bobby Prigel said Monday afternoon that he was looking forward to Tuesday’s event and remains optimistic the creamery will withstand the legal challenges.

“It’s a do-or-die thing,” he said. “If we lose and can’t do it we’ll sell the land and be out the money.”