Council sends Ag Trust standing-rule revisions and Commons items for planning board review after housing debate

The Little Compton Town Council voted to send a draft revision of the Agricultural Conservancy Trust's standing rules back to the Ag Trust and to the planning board for review, after public commenters and a planning-board member called for stronger language on agricultural viability and farmer housing.

Don McNaughton, chair of the Little Compton Agricultural Conservancy Trust, told the council the draft combines prior standing rules and a 2020 scoring methodology with some updates and that several appendices (for example, hunting and other operating procedures) were planned. Planning-board and public commenters urged the trust to include clearer criteria that prioritize working farms and farm viability, including references to farm succession, proximity to markets and explicit consideration of housing for farmers on conserved land.

Separately, the council moved to reconsider and then rescind two budget articles adopted on Feb. 27, 2025, concerning the renovation of 30 and 32 Commons. A councilor said the items had the intent of producing affordable housing but had proved divisive; the council rescinded and revoked the two previously adopted articles by unanimous vote.

Why it matters: residents and planning-board members argued that preservation efforts should explicitly prioritize agricultural use and the viability of farms, not only land protection. Some speakers said farmland without a farmer is not farmland; they urged scoring criteria that favor parcels that can support working farms and include provisions for farm housing or easements that allow housing where appropriate.

What was said: Planning-board comments noted the draft scoring criteria had little explicit reference to "working farms" or farm viability and recommended looking at state Agricultural Lands Preservation Commission criteria and other local land-trust models for examples. McNaughton said the trust has been consulting counsel and forming appendices to address operational issues such as hunting policy.

Next steps: the council voted to return the draft to the Ag Trust and requested planning-board review before final action by the council. The rescinded Commons renovation articles will not be on the warrant as previously adopted for the upcoming financial town meeting; council members suggested the Commons Review Committee meet more frequently to develop alternatives.

Provenance: the discussion and vote appear in the transcript segments included below; the trust chair and planning-board member spoke directly on the record during the Ag Trust item.