Defend the Maple View Legacy
Respect the Local Community and Rural Orange County
Orange County Issued an Updated Determination Letter as of June 4, 2025 for Union Grove Farm's Agritourism Use Requests.
The following is a brief recap of the letter. The full letter is linked below.
The proposed uses subject to determination in this letter are described as follows:
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1) A 3-acre culinary farm with a 2,000-square foot (s.f.) fruit and vegetable growing pavilion;
2) Overnight guest stay accommodations, including five (5) “Farm cottages”, 5 “lake cottages”, and a farm stay center (“25 Key Inn”) featuring 40 rooms with overnight accommodations, a 70-seat restaurant, an outdoor pool and bar, and a 1,000-s.f. event space;
3) A regenerative distillery and associated parking;
4) A 2,500-seat amphitheater (aka “farm stage”) near the distillery and working farm; and
5) A Center for Regenerative Agriculture at Union Grove Farm that will host education programming.
Items 1) the garden and pavilion; 3) the distillery and parking; and 5) the Regenerative Center for Agriculture (formerly the Ag Center) from the list above, were determined to be bona fide farm uses and not subject to Orange County zoning.
Items 2) the "Farm Stay Center" or the hotel, including the restaurant, outdoor pool and bar, outdoor event space, and the 10 cottages or casitas, are not bona fide farm uses and are subject to Orange County zoning; and 4) the "Farm Stage, or the Amphitheater, is not bona fide farm use or agritourism and is subject to Orange County zoning.
This is a Final and Binding Determination.
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An appeal of this Determination Letter was filed by UGF on 7/2/2025. See the link below for a full copy of the appeal. The amphitheater is the only subject of the appeal. Community support is important at this hearing. We hope to see a strong turn-out at the hearing supporting the community and the Triangle Land Conservancy.
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The appeal hearing is scheduled for:
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**This hearing has been withdrawn -- There is no hearing scheduled for October 8th**
The Whitted Bldg
300 W. Tryon, Hillsborough, NC
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Hearings in front of the Board of Adjustments are quasi-judicial hearings; therefore, no public comment is allowed. Only persons with standing or persons/entities represented by attorneys are allowed to speak.
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As shown in the PowerPoint presentation (link below), the land on which the Amphitheater, distillery, and other uses are on land placed in a Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) conservation easement. This conservation easement was put in place by the Nutters with TLC in 1995. It is a forever farming easement and is in perpetuity.
Triangle Land Conservancy Files Complaint
in Orange County Superior Court
"Triangle Land Conservancy, TLC, has filed a complaint in Orange County Superior Court to force Union Grove Farm to comply with the terms of a conservation easement put in place in perpetuity by the former owners of what was then called Maple View Farm. TLC has held a Conservation Easement over a portion of the property since 1995 for the express purpose of “forever conserving the open space character, agricultural productivity and scenic qualities” of the property.
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Specifically, TLC’s lawsuit asks the Court to order remediation of the prohibited roads and declare that the 2,500-seat amphitheater is an easement violation. TLC also asks the court to require the defendants to restore the property to its condition before the roads were built and to enjoin development of the amphitheater in the future."
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TLC notes in the complaint that UGF built 3 unapproved roads between 2023 - 2025, and UGF has denied that these roads are a violation of the conservation easement. According to the complaint, "Under the terms of the Conservation Easement, Defendants are obligated to restore the Conservation Property and repair the damage caused by its actions"​​​
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Below are the full Complaint, and Exhibit I from the Complaint, which is a TLC letter to Orange County regarding UGF's use of the agritourism definition. It's an interesting read.
Scroll to Page 19 for the beginning of the Factual Background details.
September 24th Community Meeting PowerPoint Presentation
May 28th Community Meeting PowerPoint Presentation
UNC School of Goverment Papers on Agritourism and the Farm Exemption
What the Heck is Agritourism
What Does the Farm Exemption from Zoning Regulation Include?
Agricultural Uses and Zoning
Union Grove Map
(Not to Scale)
Orange County
Advisory Opinion
11/12/2024
Orange County
Appeals Notification Letter a/o 3/12/2025
Nutter/TLC Conservation Easement
NC Farm Exemption Statute 106D-903
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The County Opinion allows Union Grove Farm (UGF) to operate a distillery, a 2,500-seat amphitheater, and a Center for Regenerative Agriculture (formerly the Ag Center) under the bona fide farm/Agritourism definition. However, these items are on land placed under a Triangle Land Conservancy easement by the former owners of the property, Bob and Chris Nutter (the owners of Maple View Farm).
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The County’s Opinion also allows a 2,000 sq ft pavilion and 10 casitas under the bona fide farm/Agritourism exemption.
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The County’s Opinion adds that UGF’s request for a 40-room hotel with a restaurant, pool and bar, and a 1,000 sq ft event space would not fall under the farm exemption and is subject to county zoning. In the opinion, the county suggests a special use permit and/or certain types of conditional district zoning would be needed to move forward with these projects.
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NOTE: After the March hearing date was postponed, UGF presented the Planning Department with an updated Master Plan that includes many more buildings/uses than the Original Master Plan. Below are the .pdfs for the Original Master Plan and the Updated Master Plan.
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The community surrounding UGF has appealed the County’s November 2024 Opinion only with respect to the amphitheater to the county’s Board of Adjustments. **This appeal has been withdrawn since the Orange County issued a new Determination Letter dated June 4, 2025, and UGF appealed that new determination as of 7/2/2025.
Recapping Points of Orange County's November 2024 Opinion,
Board of Adjustments Hearing Information,
and Key Documents
Our signs "Plant Grapes Not Resorts", "Stop Agritourism Abuse", and "No Amphitheatre" are now distributed throughout the community. You will see them at intersections and other areas in the Maple View community. Within about 18 hours of our first round of signs being displayed at local intersections, most of them were removed. We discovered this was larceny through the Orange County Sheriff’s office, and we made a report of the missing signs. Since we have a very attentive community, we were able to direct the deputy who made the report to the person who removed the signs. A visit was made, and the signs were put back in place. We are now seeing a few of our signs laying down on the ground. If you also happen to see this, please help us and put the signs and stakes back in the ground.
We successfully sold our supply of signs at the May 28th Community Meeting. All the funds collected went to our legal fund. We will update you when we get a new supply of signs in.
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Each sign is $10, or two for $15. Cash only at this time, or you can make a donation via the GoFundMe link and send us a note via the contact form.
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Fundraising for help with the appellant's legal fees is still important at this time and we appreciate your help.
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Community Flyers and Documents
