Yarmouth Board of Health Continues Contested Goat Farm Hearing to July 20

Board of Health · Meeting of July 6, 2026

Yarmouth Board of Health continues contested goat farm hearing as Shaw's plastic variances pass 3-1. The board voted unanimously to continue the public hearing on Good Hope Farm, a proposed stable for 30 Nigerian dwarf goats and two miniature donkeys at 88-100 Mill Lane in Yarmouth Port, to its July 20 meeting after more than two hours of competing testimony about stormwater runoff, setback compliance, and the transferability of decades-old variances. Farm owners Natasha and Oliver Bromps, represented by attorneys John Kenney and William Henchey, cited a May 2026 MassDEP negative determination finding the project would not alter Hallett's Mill Pond or adjacent wetlands, while abutters, including Joshua Stain of 128 Water Street, argued the proposal is a net-new commercial operation generating more than eight tons of manure annually, not a continuation of the prior Belzikian farm use.

Chair Hillard Boskey, M.D., called a site visit "definitely indicated" before any vote. In a separate action, the board voted 3-1 to approve plastic-reduction variances for Shaw's supermarket, filed the morning of the meeting after a corporate filing lapse, with Clerk Eric Weston dissenting on the grounds he had not read the application; Shaw's director of risk management Brian McPherson said the chain has already made more than 60 packaging changes and must report progress by Oct. 31.

In the full story:

• Background and stakes
• Applicant presentation
• Opposition testimony
• Rebuttal and board deliberation
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report, 3,606 words

Source: the Board of Health meeting of July 6, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.