MONROE, Ohio – Garver Farm Market has won its zoning appeal to keep its agricultural designation. The family farm has been in operation for 100 years. They opened a farm market facility in 2024 with seasonal produce, a deli, bakery and winery. A year later, they got a notice in the mail of a zoning violation.

Alayna Garver-Taylor operates the market with her father, Michael Garver, her mother, Suzanne Garver, and her husband, Daylon Taylor.

Michael and Suzanne started the roadside farm market in 1991. Before that, they had a conventional row crop farm with some livestock. The market sits on 180 acres of farmland, but in total, the family farms about 2,000 acres across Butler, Warren, and Preble counties.

They broke ground for the new facility in 2023 and had a grand opening in May 2024, Garver-Taylor said. Their farm market had done very well before, but it was small and open only from May through October.

The area is in the midst of incredible urban sprawl. Their customers wanted more products, which were impossible to deliver in their current market. They could not get a permit from the health department so, technically, they could not shuck an ear of corn or slice a watermelon.

“So, we made the leap to do what we did,” she explained. “This is a farm market like no other. We offer our seasonal produce, annual flowers, pumpkins, and all the fruits and veggies, of course. We also have our farm bakery and deli, where we take the things that are grown on the farm, and we serve them right on your plate.

“We also have expanded to offer a winery; we grow our own grapes now and make our own wine,” Garver-Taylor explained. “That is growing rapidly. The market also has a coffee shop, a little country store, and a little bit of everything. But it is still a farm.”

In June 2025, over a year after the grand opening, attended by county employees and representatives, they received a notice in the mail (from Butler County) that they had violated a zoning issue. The notice said they were operating a commercial business on an agriculturally zoned property, and that they had not obtained the proper building permits and zoning permits to do so.

“When we began construction, the plans were approved for agriculture,” Garver-Taylor said. We went through the right avenues to get this building approved. We were not trying to fly under the radar; everyone knew what we were doing. We got this notice after we had opened, that we had to cease operations and had to file for a commercial zoning permit.”

This led to an eight-month headache. At first, the family tried to work with the county. They didn’t try to push back but needed the county to understand that they were a farm, an agricultural and vinicultural operation. They were given more hoops to jump through.

The Garver family finally decided they needed to fight and hired an attorney. They submitted an appeal to the county that their land was zoned for agriculture, and the building was for agriculture. It was denied. Michael Garver argued that the farm market met agricultural standards because more than 50 percent of the gross sales were from agricultural products.

David Fehr, Butler County director of development, told the Hamilton Journal News that the building “went beyond” a roadside farm stand. That the zoning violation had nothing to do with the farming of the property or the crops, but strictly with the building.

Next, the family went to the Board of Zoning Appeals. The meeting was March 17, and was standing room only. If they were turned down, if the property had to be zoned commercial, the family knew they would not have the resources to keep operating and would have to close.

“It was amazing to see all of the people come out to support us,” Garver-Taylor said. “We had a lot of people speaking in our favor. We were there until midnight. These people stayed until midnight speaking on our behalf and supporting us.

The Board of Appeals is a five-member board, and Garver Farm Market needed three votes to be approved.

“When it was time for the board to start voting, there was a long lull of silence,” Garver-Taylor said. “They were thinking hard, flipping through the pages of evidence. It felt like hours of silence, but it was probably only a couple of minutes. Then we heard the first person motion to approve, and another long pause before a second motion to approve. Then three and four. There was one ‘no.’”

Their many supporters, including twice-a-day customer Dave Dirksen, were pleased.

“I come for breakfast usually and then for lunch,” Dirksen said. “It is the most awesome place on earth. I love it here. They have the nicest people; people are coming here from all over the country. Everybody has a good time. They have a little bit of everything, they have wine, food, music, the fire, shopping, fresh farm produce, and also unhomogenized milk from the Amish, which I love.”

Carly Driscoll is in her third season working at the farm and she appreciates it.

“It has opened up a lot of new interest for me in agriculture, viniculture, that sort of thing,” Driscoll said. “When I move on after high school, I might come back to agriculture because of this job.”