Gumps Farm Closing

Gumps Farm on Rockwood Road has closed for good, owners Kirk and Holly Henderson have announced. The farm’s store usually opens the last Friday in April, but the Hendersons an­nounced this past week that they don’t plan to reopen.

The farm a little north of Norfolk Cen­ter has been a popular spot for years to get organic vegetables, upscale crafts, and local flavor.

The current iteration of the farm dates from the early 1990s, but the land has been farmed by the same family since the 1920s. Times are tough all over, squeezing small businesses. On top of that, the Hendersons say they can’t meet what they consider un­reasonable demands of Norfolk’s building commissioner, Robert Bullock, concern­ing a structure on their land they consider to be a greenhouse.

“We ultimately made the determina­tion as a family that we would not be able to satisfy the Norfolk Building Depart­ment,”

Kirk Henderson said in a written statement to The Norfolk Boomerang late this week. “…This is an unspeakably sad and surreal period of time in our fam­ily’s long history on this property. We are disappointed that our many dreams and long term goals for Gumps Farm will go unfulfilled.” But Bullock says the structure doesn’t meet the state’s building code and is unsafe, and that the Hendersons so far haven’t taken action to make needed im­provements to it. “This comes down to one thing: the building is a store that the public is invit­ed into and it is not safe, a fact confirmedby Mr. Henderson’s engineer. I’ve been hired to enforce the building code and keep our buildings safe for everyone. I’m happy to work with [the Hendersons] if they are willing to comply with the [Mas­sachusetts]

building code,” Bullock said in a written statement.

The Hendersons maintain that an en­gineer found the building to be safe. They also say the structure is a greenhouse, which would make it exempt from the state building code. Bullock contends that the structure, which he said consists of an original por­tion 12 feet by 20 feet and an addition 20 by 45 feet, doesn’t meet the state’s defini­tion of a greenhouse, which he said is “an enclosed detached or attached accessory structure consisting primarily of light transmitting materials and used exclu­sively for growing plants.” “This is not how this structure was built,” Bullock said in an email message.

Bullock said he first learned of the structure’s deficiencies in May 2009, and that he has been working with Kirk Hen­derson since that time to try to get the building brought up to code. Bullock said he hasn’t yet ordered for the building to be removed from the prop­erty, “but it will have to come down if he does not pull a permit and construct the building to meet the code.”

Kirk Henderson said complying with Bullock’s requirements would be costly and would set a dangerous precedent for farmers.

Kirk Henderson said his great-grand­father started working on the farm in the 1910s and that the family has owned it since the 1920s. The land has been farmed continuously since at least the late 1800s, he said. “Gump” is a family nickname for Henderson’s grandfather, Clarence Fuller, who died in the early 1990s after working the farm for years. Kirk, 47, and his wife Holly, 46, have said they wanted to farm on their land for the rest of their lives and then provide a way for the land to be pre­served from development. The decision to close leaves unclear the future of the land.

The farm consists of about 25 acres of land. The largest portion is a 22-acre parcel that extends from Rockwood Road to Medway Branch Road and Tucker Road. Most farms in Massachusetts are classified as Chapter 61A land, after a state law that allows farmers the opportunity to benefit from a huge break in local property taxes in exchange for keep­ing undeveloped land agricultural. The law allows towns a chance to match a developer’s offer for land if a farmer decides to sell the land. But the major 22-acre parcel of Gumps Farm is classified as vacant land, meaning the owners are paying the full local property tax on it and the town doesn’t have a right to match a developer’s price. With easy access to Rockwood Road, which is also Route 115, and proximity to the commuter rail station in Norfolk Center, the land would appear to be attractive to a developer if the Hendersons decide to sell.

The three candidates running for selectman in next week’s annual town election all said they hope it doesn’t come to that. “I hope we don’t lose ‘em. I’ve been going to Gumps for years. It’s a wonderful, wonderful Nor­folk tradition,” said Jim Lehan, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, during an interview late this week.

Lehan said he hopes Henderson will reconsid­er about closing. “I would do anything I could in our authority to help him,” Lehan said.

Selectman candidate Scott Bugbee said he goes to Gumps all summer long because he lives right around the corner on Medway Branch Road. He buys corn there where it’s in season.

“It’s going to be sad to see it go,” Bugbee said. Bugbee said he’d be willing to mediate between the Hendersons and town staff.

“You don’t want to overstep your bounds, but I’m all about bringing people to the table for open and honest dialogue. How could that hurt?” Bug­bee said. Mark Flaherty, also a candidate for selectman, said he’d like to see Gumps stick around.

“I feel that it will be a big lose for the town. We should see what the town can do to keep it open,” Flaherty said in an email message. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Editor’s Note: When news of the closing of Gumps Farm broke this past week, The Norfolk Boomer­ang approached Kirk and Holly Henderson, own­ers of Gumps Farm, and Robert Bullock, Norfolk’s building commissioner. Each side sent the Boo­merang written statements.

Robert Bullock, Norfolk Building Commissioner:

Gump’s Farm is an asset to our community. It offers quality products and the convenience to the center of town and train. It doesn’t get much bet­ter than this. When I noticed the structure already built without a building permit last May I inspected the property, spoke with Mr. Henderson and told him my concerns. He gave us an application for what he had done but it was not up to code, so he hired a structural engineer who agreed with us on the code issues, and it was my understanding that he drew plans for the project but Mr. Henderson de­cided against submitting those plans. I have been trying to work with him for over a year, including allowing him to utilize the struc­ture

under the premise that if there was more than 6” of snow or wind speed of more than 30 mph he would not be allowed to use the building, but still could sell products outside. This was suggested by the engineer so that he could finish the year and do the improvements over the winter.

This comes down to one thing: the building is a store that the public is invited into and it is not safe, a fact confirmedby Mr. Henderson’s engi­neer.

I’ve been hired to enforce the building code and keep our buildings safe for everyone. I’m hap­py to work with Mr. Henderson if they are willing to comply with the MA building code.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Kirk Henderson, owner of Gumps Farm:

In response to Mr. Bullock’s statement, I con­cur that Gumps Farm is an asset to our community and I thank him for his gracious words to that ef­fect. It is on all other assertions that I respectfully disagree.

The structure in question is our greenhouse at the rear of our farmstand, which was purchased on Jan. 22 of 2003 from Griffin Greenhouse of Tewksbury MA and manufactured by X.S. Smith Greenhouse of Eatontown NJ. The greenhouse was erected in February 2003. I was advised by the MA Farm Bureau that I did not require a permit. In the many subsequent seasons that it was in use, nobody seemed to take issue with its existence. It is true that we hired a highly respected local engineer who contacted the building department via a letter dated November 10, 2009 and con­cluded that the structure meets the requirements of the MA State Building Code. He affixed his seal and signature to the document. It is his profes­sional

opinion that no public safety issues exist at Gumps Farm.

We also contracted a highly respected local ar­chitect who contacted the building department via a letter dated November 12, 2009 with his recom­mendations

that we only needed to construct two minor ramps to aid in handicap accessibility. With regard to code compliance he directed the build­ing department to refer to the November 10, 2009 letter from our engineer. The recommendations of both of these experienced and respected profes­sionals were dismissed by the Assistant Building Inspector Tom Patnode. In a meeting between our engineer and Bob Bullock, it was agreed that a temporary occupancy permit would be issued to allow us to operate our Christmas season. In exchange we would have new plans drawn up to attempt to bring our green­house up to the standard of a conventionally con­structed building. Upon review of the plans with the input of two building professionals that we trust implicitly, and under the advisement of two veteran Agricultural/Horticultural businessmen, the consensus was that the modifications would be costly and dangerously precedent setting for the Agricultural/Horticultural industry.

Not addressed in Mr. Bullock’s statement was Mr. Patnode’s demand that two plant displays in our outside retail area, which are valued at under $100.00 (one hundred dollars) each, one of which has been in use for over 10 years, be deemed struc­tures and therefore subject to extensive modifica­tions to bring them up to the code of a building. In addition, we would need to survey twenty some acres of land to locate these two plant displays on a site planner’s map.

We ultimately made the determination as a family that we would not be able to satisfy the Nor­folk Building Department. The entire Gumps Farm family would like to express our gratitude for the phenomenal out­pouring

of love and support that we have received from the community and our many longtime loyal customers. We are humbled. This is an unspeakably sad and surreal period of time in our family’s long his­tory on this property. We are disappointed that our many dreams and long term goals for Gumps Farm will go unfulfilled. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers and we will hopefully have the opportunity to see many of you personally in the near future.

Sincerely, Kirk & Holly Henderson and the entire Gumps Farm family