Local business owners seek community support to save pumpkin farm

NIAGARA COUNTY, N.Y. (WIVB) — A Niagara County family was looking forward to welcoming the community to their farm for a third year before getting some disheartening news from town officials.

Alisha and Kyle King run Niagara Pumpkin Farm on Townline Road in Sanborn. They thought they were ready for the season until the town of Lewiston said they need to shut down without the proper permit and safety inspections.

“Everything is getting pulled out of our hands without them letting us do what we have the right to do,” Kyle said.

“We get the green light to go and then right before we’re about to open something else changes and they’re expecting something different, and it’s just been very stressful for our family. I can barely function most days,” Alisha said.

Town Supervisor Steven Broderick says the area is zoned for rural residential use and that the couple needs a special use permit to open, which could take weeks.

“It’s constant back and forth. We set up and then we get a court order one day and we’re like, can we keep setting up, it’s just like, what do we do? We’re at a stand still,” Kyle said. “We don’t know what to do. We’re supposed to open Saturday and there’s so much not done because we don’t know what to do.”

The family is asking for community support during a planning board meeting at town hall at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.

“It’s make or break. Tomorrow they could tell us we can never open again,” Kyle said. “If we have community support there, that likely isn’t going to happen, but who knows? It’s up in the air. It’s just another thing that we need to jump past.”

Broderick says it’s possible the town could issue a special use permit if the farm scales back on its attractions.

“But when you get into rides and corn canyons and food trucks and a parking lot with lights. Part of their application expects to have 5,000 visitors in the next month, you’re running a business and it’s not zoned business, that’s the problem,” Supervisor Broderick said.