A few years back, Theresa Reid held a dinner on her farm to raise donations for Jon Bon Jovi's charity restaurant in Red Bank. Fifty people paid to attend. As it was about to begin, Howell inspectors and police officers showed up to put a stop to it.
Reid hadn't heeded the township's extensive permit-and-fees process for such an event. After some discussion, she found a workaround. "We refunded everybody their money and they donated it back, and then we gave the money to Bon Jovi," she said.
After simmering for years, the tug-of-war between Howell's 100-plus farmers and township officials over the right to hold events is boiling over. Farmers have organized a concerted pushback, contending that an inability to host weddings, showers or other parties — or even smaller-scale events like farm-to-table dinners, yoga classes and educational workshops — without navigating a thicket of permits and fees has threatened their livelihoods.
"I had to cancel one wedding and five or six showers last spring," said Reid, owner of Beyond Organic Growers. "This is money that pays our winter bills. After next year, I don't know if we're going to be here. If they don't give us the events, we're not going to be here. "It's been a nightmare," Reid added. "But I'm not the only one."
'Why is this such an issue?'
The movement, Howell Farmers United, sprang up to address the concern. Its leaders requested a meeting with township brass and were given a date of April 25. "We're too far into the season already — we need to meet with them sooner," said Betty Velez, who founded Howell Farmers United. "What are they stuck on? Why is this such an issue?"
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