Local farm owners win planners’ okay to host various agri-tourism events in coming months and years

by Dan McClelland

A host of agriculturally-oriented festivals and other events are on the horizon for the community at a new agri-tourism business on the outskirts of the village, following approval of the plan and the issuance of a special use permit by the members of the village and town planning board Wednesday.

An overview of the plans for the McClelland Family’s 100-acre farm at 107 Old Wawbeek Road just behind Sunmount Developmental Center came during a presentation from one of the co-owners, Andrew McClelland.

“We’re proposing land use for agri-tourism purposes, the co-owner of Stacked Graphics began that evening. “We intend to do a pumpkin festival this fall,” with the results of our pumpkin harvest this year.

The public will be invited to join us in these events. Some of the events will include maple syrup festivals in the spring and wild flower events in the late summer and fall.

In addition to the sale of the agricultural products grown there some of the future events may include other vendors.

The McClelland family here purchased the farm, which is now mostly wooded, from Dan and Chiprle in the summer of 2021 and did extensive renovations to their century-old farm house that next winter. The purpose was to create an agri-tourism opportunity in Tupper Lake- by blending agriculture with family fun on the farm.

Agri-tourism is defined as the creation of a commercial enterprise that links production of agricultural products with tourism, bringing people here to enjoy the attractions and the entire community.

The house, once the renovations were completed early last July, saw brisk short-term rental trade all last summer and fall. More bookings have been made for coming months.

On the property, besides the main house, is situated a large barn, where a number of restoration projects have been underway since winter, and the stables building, which too will be rebuilt in the future.

This past year the McClellands have demolished several dilapidated out buildings including a three-side 30 foot high hay barn, built in 1975 by Mr. Mecklenburg and Kevin Baker, a chicken coop, a goose house and an open-sided animal pen. Several of those buildings may be replaced in the future.

Mr. McClelland told the planners Wednesday that a new driveway is planned off Old Wawbeek Road and it will run directly behind the barn up onto a ten-acre pasture behind the farm house where many of the events will be staged.

Dan McClelland and Highway Chief Bill Dechene met recently to plan the entrance of the new driveway off the town road.

“It’s a great location right on the corner before the barn- as it boasts great visibility in both directions,” the elder McClelland told the planners Wednesday.

“The large barn- believed to be the only full-size hay barn left in the community from the days when it boasted a dozen or so farms- will block from view the driveway and its use from the guests in the main house to or from any event,” he added.

Andrew McClelland presented the planning board members with a sketch of the new driveway proposed behind the barn and its two-car wide entrance off the town road.

The perimeter of the large open pasture has space for a large parking area that is out of sight from passing motorists on Old Wawbeek Road.

The second driveway to the stables will never be used by visitors, as a courtesy to neighbors there, he explained.

At events we will have tents set up on the pasture “in order to create a retail or festival atmosphere.

He said the new parking planned around the big field will also eliminate the need for anyone to ever have to park on the often busy Old Wawbeek Road.

The new grass or graveled parking area will be built large enough to accommodate all the visitors, he noted.

He said the new drive will keep event visitors away from the vacationers who may be renting the farm house on event day.

This past spring Andrew and Faith, with a big help from Faith’s uncle, Fran Jessie, tapped over 300 maple trees on the farm. Boiling down the sap over a two-week period produced over 30 gallons of McClelland Family Farm syrup. More taps and more gallons of syrup are planned for next year.

“Next spring we hope to have the infrastructure in place to tap hundreds of more trees.”

Most of the tree taps were made this year on the 50 acres the McClellands own south of the National Grid power line to the village substation on McLaughlin Ave. A timber study performed by the Pekin Branch Forestry firm in 2017 found the 50 acres north of the line has many stands of maple and enough to produce enough taps “to support a viable sugaring operation for years,” according to the younger McClelland. The study also estimated the worth of the standing hardwood timber at $50,000.

“We may also do a maple week next year in collaboration with the harvest- with special events like are done all across the region, Andrew told the planners.

Included in those events may be food sales, music, vendors and most importantly maple sales- to generate agri-tourism income during a normally slow rental season, he noted.

There were no comments from the public during that evening’s hearing.

Planner Paul O’Leary said he received one call from a neighbor after the legal notice of the hearing was published in recent weeks. “They were just inquiring about the kind of events that would be planned there”- but didn’t have a position on the plan either way.

According to a packet of information furnished to the planning volunteers before the meeting last week, it was noted that pumpkins from the new pumpkin patch would be sold there each fall, perhaps from a roadside stand at first.

The family’s goal is to eventually grow between 2,000 and 3,000 pumpkins a year.

In the fall too, when the rentals drop off, the farm house will become the headquarters of the pumpkin sales and the sale of other fall products. That retail operation is expected to go hand in hand with various fall events in the years to come.

Following that theme, according to the McClellands’ long range plan, would be for the farm house/store to transform into holiday mode with holiday goods for sale. They also plan to decorate the grounds around the farm house in holiday décor such as wreaths and kissing balls, plus may sell Christmas trees harvested from the forests of the farm.

“Some of these events will also feature music and food- producing a real festive flavor,” Andrew said.

Because the property is not serviced by either village-provided water or sewer, port-a-jons and portable hand-washing stations will be set up at each event.

Eventually, the family hopes to rent the property for special events like wedding and family gatherings.

Another possible event in the plans of the family members is a flower festival, where patrons may be able to pick their own wild flowers and other flowers grown there each summer.

The farm was originally in the Quesnel family- as two separate 50-acre parcels, but was later purchased by Dan Mecklenburg, who dramatically renovated and expanded the size of the farm house. Dan originally dug the original house’s basement by hand, before adding a major addition, which included among other things a large central stone chimney and solarium.

Dan also built the adjacent stables where he and his wife, Chiprle, had their own horses and made space available for the owners of other local horses. Dan built many of the farm’s out buildings.

The Mecklenburgs also kept goats, ducks and sheep at various times.

Between 2018 and 2021, when Dan and Chiprle had the property in contract sale with another party, many of the smaller buildings fell into disrepair.

Last year a new four-season chicken coop building was erected which is now home to two-dozen egg-layers. Some of those eggs are now used or sold at Andrew and Faith’s Spruce and Hemlock bakery.

“It’s a beautiful piece of property, but it needs a lot of love to bring it back to the way it was when Dan was there,” Andrew told the planners.

Paul O’Leary pointed out the language in the local zoning code which details the use of agriculture and its commercial purposes, “so their application fits in that category for what they are proposing.”

Andrew Chary, a member of the planning board, noted that any more buildings there would require building permits from the code enforcement officer, and Mr. McClelland told him that for right now they are concentrating on repairing the existing buildings and have no plans at the moment to erect new ones. Any events held there would use tents and other portable structures, he told the planners.

“Some day we may erect a pavilion on the top of the pasture for agricultural events,” he added.

Dan McClelland said they are working to preserve the framework of the large barn so that some day it may be home to weddings or other events.

Wedding celebrations at farms are growing in popularity, he noted.

His son said most events they plan to stage would be one-day ones. Several might extend to several days or a week at the most.

Mr. Chary asked about their capacity for parking and Andrew McClelland didn’t know, but he said the area that rings the top of pasture is many acres in size.

“We don’t really know at this point how many people we will get to our events at any one time- so we thought we’d open up a reasonably-sized area there for parking, and then expand parking as needed.”

“We want to keep all parking off Old Wawbeek Road and away from our neighbors.”

The closest neighbors are Darcy and David Turcotte, who live opposite the driveway to the stables. “Out of respect for their privacy, we want to keep our parking and our activities as far away as we can from their property.”

Asked by Chairman Shawn Stuart their opinions on the project, Board Member Jim Merrihew said he liked the design of the parking area away from Old Wawbeek Road and up in the pasture. “As you know, I believe the best parking lot is the one that is very hard to see.”

“Most of our parking area you can’t see from the road,” the younger McClelland told him, to which Mr. Merrihew replied: “That’s a huge plus for me.”

The design of the driveway entrance will permit two vehicles to exit or enter off the town road at the same time at a width of about 30 feet. The McClellands have agreed to furnish 20 feet of the culvert to supplement the town highway department’s 11-foot section. “We want to make it very easy and very safe for people to access our new driveway.”

“I love the business idea of the farm. It’s excellent,” Mr. Merrihew told the applicants. “It’s very novel for around here.”

Mr. Merrihew asked about the acreage in the back of the 100-acre tract and the two men said it was heavily wooded and would eventually become part of their sugaring operation.

Trails will eventually be cut there for hikers and skiers to enjoy the forests, they said.

“I think you are going to see huge success,” Mr. Merrihew told them. “I think you are going to be surprised at the turn-outs at your events and the interest people will have!”

“I love the idea of what you are proposing!”

Jan Yaworski, another member of the board, liked the two-lane entrance plan. “I love your whole idea...I love the idea of a pumpkin patch!” she told them. “-And I love the idea of your holiday events!”

Mr. Stuart wondered about their plans for signage and was told there would be some- perhaps even temporary and erected before each event. “We don’t want visitors going in our circular driveway to the house and bothering people staying there,” Andrew told him.

Any exterior lighting on the pasture would be probably temporary and always downward-pointing, in keeping with the community’s dark skies policies.

Mr. Stuart asked about possibilities for overnight camping, and the two men explained it would be in the distant future, if ever. Before that could happen, however, a substantial well and septic system would have to be installed, and winterized bathroom building would have to be built on the pasture, they said.

The vote on granting the special use permit, on a motion by Doug Bencze and Jan Yaworksi, was unanimous.

Saturday Andrew and Faith, with help from Mary Jo and Lee Wells, spread thousands of square feet of heavy black plastic across what was previously a four-acre paddock for horses.

It’s a non-cultivation way to grow a garden, without having to till up the soil.

John and Patty Gillis have been using the method to grow their large multiple-vegetable garden at Moody for years. They put Andrew and Faith onto it.

Once all the sod has been deprived of moisture and sunlight for over a month by the thick black tarp of plastic, strips of garden fabric are placed down and those strips are seeded or planted with young seedlings.

Proponents of the modern practice argue that conventional cultivation with tillers turns up the soil, but in doing so disturb its environment, killing many of the microbes which promote plant growth.

Information about activities at McClelland Family Farm can be found at mcclellandfamilyfarm@

gmail.com.