Court Throws Out Nine-Year-Old Township Enforcement Case and Reaffirms Broad Protection for Michigan Farmers Under Right to Farm Act

On remand from the win at the Michigan Court of Appeals, the Bay County Circuit Court has entered a final judgment dismissing Fraser Township’s nine-year lawsuit against Bay County farmer Harvey Haney, holding that the Township is preempted from enforcing its zoning ordinance against farms like his under Michigan’s Right to Farm Act.

The ruling follows a prior appellate decision reversing the trial court’s earlier legal analysis and directing the Bay County court, on remand, to determine whether Haney’s farm operation complied with applicable Generally Accepted Agricultural and Management Practices, known as GAAMPs. After reviewing and adopting arguments presented by Outside Legal Counsel, the circuit court concluded that it did.

In its final judgment, the circuit court found that Haney’s piggery involved less than the threshold number of animal units and had not been proposed as a new or expanding livestock facility since before 1999. Under the terms of Michigan’s GAAMPs, such operations are not subject to the Site Selection and Odor Control GAAMP and are deemed compliant. Because both legal requirements were satisfied, the trial court held that Haney’s operation is fully protected by the Right to Farm Act.

The judgment expressly declares that Fraser Township is preempted from “enacting, maintaining, or enforcing” its zoning ordinance against the farm, dismisses all claims with prejudice, and recognizes Haney as the prevailing party entitled to seek recovery of attorney fees and costs under Michigan law.

“This decision applies the Right to Farm Act exactly as the Legislature wrote it,” said Philip L. Ellison of Outside Legal Counsel PLC, counsel for Haney. “Local governments may not use zoning enforcement to do indirectly what state law forbids them from doing directly.”

The case underscores the continuing protective force of Michigan’s Right to Farm Act following the Michigan Supreme Court’s decision also secured by OLC in James Township v. Rice, and confirms that compliance with GAAMPs - not local preference or zoning hostility - governs whether a farm operation may continue.

Outside Legal Counsel PLC represents farmers, landowners, and property owners across Michigan in cases involving land-use regulation and constitutional property rights.