The Harbin Farms produce stand was dealt a setback Thursday night when two of the three Planning Board members said they were against a zoning change that would allow the business to remain open.

However, a formal vote was delayed until an unspecified date in July. In the meantime, the family that runs the Ellicott City stand was asked to come up with a detailed list of items they sell from the property to pass along to board members.

The Planning Board has five members, but only three will be hearing the Harbin Farms issue.

Thursday’s meeting was continued from late May when so many people signed up to testify that not all of them were able to speak. The ones who were not able to speak at the last hearing were given the opportunity Thursday, and Board Chairman David Grabowski said he received about 139 e-mails on the issue. 

The e-mails were split almost evenly between people who supported the stand and the zoning change and those who were against it, he said. The County Council, acting as the Zoning Board, will have the final say on the issue.

The owners of the stand — Kim Harbin Taylor and her husband, Mike — are seeking a zoning change for the property, at the corner of Old Mill Road and Route 99, from residential to business. Currently, the business is in violation of its residential zoning, a problem that occurred after the family sold farmland that was behind the produce stand in 2005.

Without a connection to farmland, the business cannot be considered an accessory use to the residential land. It has also changed too much over the years to be grandfathered in as a “non-conforming use,” according to county planning officials. 

Attorney Thomas Meachum, who represents the business, said they are requesting a change to business zoning with a restriction that would only allow it to operate as a farmer’s market/produce stand. Rezoning a property that is slightly larger than one acre would not set a larger precedent and any future changes would still require Zoning Board approval, he said.

As part of the approval process, the family has submitted a site plan that outlines certain changes they plan to make to the business. Some of those changes are required because of plans by the State Highway Administration to improve the nearby intersection, family members said.

While sympathetic to the Taylor family, Grabowski and fellow board member Gary Rosenbaum, both said they were against the rezoning. Board member Paul Yelder said he could support it, as long as a strict set of restrictions limiting the property’s use were placed on the land. 

“I understand the dilemma,” Grabowski said. “I just have a real problem putting (business) zoning even with a documented site plan in a residential area.”

The county Department of Planning and Zoning also advised against the change, raising the concern that it could set a negative precedent and would be “out of character” with the surrounding residential properties. Several residents echoed that sentiment in their testimony at the previous hearing and also raised fears about traffic becoming worse on Route 99 and on Old Mill Road, where a second entrance into the business is proposed.

However, many other residents spoke out in support of the proposal, describing the business as a local treasure that would not set any negative precedents for the future. 

“It’s part of our livelihood. It supports our family,” co-owner Mike Taylor said. “It’s some place I I hope my kids can run and their kids can run and it can stay forever.”

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