Vernon Family Farm Lawsuit: Dismissals, Noise Claim, and Countersuit

A Rockingham Superior Court judge dismissed most of the Vernon Family Farm lawsuit in June 2025, throwing out zoning and property-value claims brought by neighbors of the Newfields, New Hampshire livestock operation and clearing the Town of Newfields entirely, while leaving one narrow claim — that the farm’s events violate the town’s noise ordinance — for later resolution.¹ The neighbors have signaled an appeal to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, and the Vernons have filed counterclaims of their own that a judge allowed to proceed in April 2026.²

Who Sued and What They Claimed

On October 4, 2024, three sets of abutting property owners — Ruth Patterson and Gerald Cox, Scott Wachsmuth, and Lynn and Mark Girard — filed suit in Rockingham Superior Court against Jeremiah and Nicole Vernon and the Town of Newfields.³ The complaint followed roughly a decade of allegations, complaints, and town meetings over the farm’s concerts, dinners, and other public events.⁴

The neighbors alleged the farm was operating an illegal “commercial kitchen/restaurant/bar/event venue” in a zoning district that does not allow those uses, and that the town had failed to properly vet the food and bar services through its zoning board.⁵ They alleged nuisance from amplified music that “routinely exceeds” 60 decibels during the day and 50 decibels at night, along with traffic, crowds, police presence, lighting, and trespass onto their properties.⁶ They claimed decreased property values and sought money damages. They accused the Newfields selectboard of knowingly letting the farm operate in violation of the zoning ordinance.⁷ And they alleged the farm was using 31 acres of conserved land as a parking lot for roughly 150 vehicles during events, in violation of a 2004 conservation easement.⁸

Plaintiff Lynn Girard told NHPR she had once supported the farm but now wanted fewer events, no bar, and a return to acoustic music. “I don’t think it gives the right of farmers to misuse it in ways that they want instead of what’s intended,” she said.⁹

Why the Judge Dismissed Most of the Case

Judge David W. Ruoff sided with the farm and the town on two grounds. The first was timing. The Newfields Planning Board had approved the farm’s site plan in December 2022, subject to 17 conditions. New Hampshire law gave the neighbors 30 days to appeal that approval, and they waited nearly two years before filing suit. By then, the defense argued, the right to challenge the town’s decision was gone.⁵

The second was state agritourism law. After the 2015 New Hampshire Supreme Court decision in Forster v. Town of Henniker held that agritourism did not fit the state’s statutory definition of agriculture, the legislature passed Senate Bill 345, which took effect in late 2016.¹⁰ SB 345 redefined agritourism as a form of agricultural marketing covering activities like “eating a meal, making overnight stays, enjoyment of the farm environment, education about farm operations, or active involvement in the activity of the farm,” and declared that agritourism “shall not be prohibited on any property where the primary use is for agriculture.” Municipalities kept authority over site plans, permits, traffic, parking, and public safety, but lost the power to ban agritourism outright.¹¹ The New Hampshire Commissioner of Agriculture publicly backed the Vernons, saying the farm “exemplifies what agritourism is meant to be.”⁵

A separate lawsuit seeking removal of a farm sign along the roadside was also dismissed.¹

What Survived: The Noise Claim and the Countersuit

One claim was not dismissed. The allegation that the farm’s events violate the town’s noise ordinance remains in Rockingham Superior Court, and Judge Ruoff did not rule on its merits.¹ One of the site plan’s 17 conditions, Condition 8, required event speakers to be “directed away from surrounding properties” to the satisfaction of the abutting landowners and the Planning Board, and neighbors say enforcement never followed.¹²

The Vernons then countersued the neighbors. In April 2026, a judge denied the neighbors’ motion to dismiss those counterclaims, letting them move forward.²

The Parking and Conservation Easement Fight

The easement question moved on a separate track. In 2004, the property’s previous owner placed roughly 31 of the farm’s 33 acres under a conservation easement held by the Town of Newfields and managed by its Conservation Commission.¹³ The deed defines agriculture to include animal husbandry, horticulture, and the sale of products produced on the property, while barring industrial or commercial activity other than agriculture and forestry.¹⁴

Former Newfields Select Board chair Michael Sununu filed a complaint with the state’s Charitable Trusts Unit, alleging the town had not thoroughly examined whether concert parking on 31 conserved acres fit the easement’s intent.¹⁵ Former Charitable Trusts Unit Director Thomas Donovan told the Conservation Commission the word “agritourism” does not appear in the easement. “The easement allows a farm stand, not a restaurant, not a bar, and not live entertainment,” he said.¹⁶

After hearings on October 20 and November 17, 2025, the Newfields Conservation Commission voted 5-2 to allow the parking to continue, finding that it contributes to the land’s agricultural use. Commission Chair Alison Watts said parking must remain “strictly tied to agricultural activity,” and that events unrelated to farming could jeopardize future approval. Dissenting members Chris Shanelaris and Caleb Fields argued “parking is not listed anywhere in the easement as a reserved right.” The Vernons were required to submit an environmental mitigation plan by May 1, 2026, developed with expert consultation to assess soil compaction, erosion, and contamination, with potential future limits on parking.¹³

Where Things Stand Now

The neighbors plan to appeal Judge Ruoff’s dismissal to the New Hampshire Supreme Court.¹ The noise claim is still pending in Rockingham Superior Court, and the Vernons’ countersuit is moving forward.² The neighbors’ attorney, John Weaver of McLane Middleton, has suggested the Planning Board could revisit or revoke the 2022 site plan approval if it finds the 17 conditions remain unmet, calling that “fertile ground.”¹³

Meanwhile, the farm has cut back. Although permitted to host up to 50 events a year, the Vernons have scaled back to five annually because of the litigation.¹ Jeremiah Vernon called the years of legal challenges a “war of attrition” and told NHPR his family has considered moving. “Somehow this family farm has become like one of the most polarizing intense things in Newfields,” he said. “And I think it’s really sad, because that was never our intent.”⁹

1
NHPR. Vernon Family Farms Lawsuit Concerts Events Dismissed NH
2
Business NH Magazine. Judge: Neighbors Must Answer Vernon Farm’s Claims of ‘Vicious’ Attacks
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Seacoastonline. Neighbors Vernon Family Farm Newfields NH Lawsuit Agritourism
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NHPR. Newfields Family Farm and Town Sued by Neighbors Over Agritourism Events
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Vernon Family Farm. Fight to Farm Newfields NH
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Yahoo News. Judge Rules Vernon Family Farm
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NH Business Review. Newfields Family Farm and Town Sued by Neighbors Over Agritourism Events
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Seacoastonline. Newfields NH Neighbors Break Silence on Concerns With Vernon Family Farm
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NHPR. Vernon Family Farm Newfields New Hampshire Agritourism Neighbors Lawsuit
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Ohio State University Farm Office. Agritourism Litigation
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UNH Cooperative Extension. Agritourism Workshop
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Rockingham Superior Court. Complaint Against Newfields
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Seacoastonline. Vernon Family Farm Parking Dispute Agritourism Events Neighbors Lawsuit Newfields NH
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Vernon Family Farm. Conservation Easement Deed
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Seacoastonline. Vernon Farm Newfields NH Conserved Land Parking Dispute
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NH Journal. If Newfields Can Redefine a Conservation Easement, Can Any Town?