MATTAPOISETT — After being shut down for almost 9 months, Wyandotte Farm Stand in Mattapoisett is once again open for business following property disputes and conflict with residential neighbors.

“I’m very happy to be doing what I love, [but] I will never be able to afford to pay back the money that we spent to get to this point. That’s how it goes,” said Wyandotte Farm owner Michael King.

The farm stand, located at 84 North Street, reopened on Friday, July 18 after months of meeting with the Mattapoisett Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals to determine if the farm needed a special permit or variance to operate in a residential area.

“For six months, we were told we needed a special permit — only to be told we  don’t need a special permit,” said King.

Amid property disputes with the town, King also faced additional criticism from several neighbors who live in residential properties surrounding the farm stand. 

Rebecca Brosnan, who lives near the farm stand, stated that she was concerned with King’s potential plans for expansion.

“We were starting out with a produce stand, a farm stand […] now we’re moving on to almost a little eatery with picnic tables where people can sit and eat,” she said at a planning board meeting on Wednesday, June 25.

Former Building Inspector David Riquinha met with King following a zoning board meeting and told him that the board needs a site plan review in order to affirm Wyandotte’s rights as a Class I Farm Stand.

A Class I Farm Stand in Massachusetts meets the state’s standards for property size or revenue thresholds. Under the Dover Amendment, farm stands must generate at least $1,000 per acre annually to be afforded certain agricultural zoning protections.

King has asserted that since Wyandotte Farm Stand meets these revenue requirements, the business does not need to operate under a special permit due to the Dover Amendment exempting agricultural properties from certain zoning restrictions.

“At the second meeting, the receipts of our Dover Amendment protections with the lease were read into the record by John Mathieu — a member of the planning board,” said King. 

He also noted that three separate attorneys affirmed that Wyandotte’s Dover Amendment protections are valid and the legal teams stated that the business should “open the farm stand because [it doesn’t] need a permit.”

With this evidence provided to the board, the farm stand was finally permitted to reopen.

Now that the stand is up and running again, King is selling produce such as sweet corn, mojito cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes and cherries, in addition to meat products like bacon, chorizo, bratwurst, ham and pork chops. He will also make weekly appearances at the Washburn Farmer’s Market in Marion each Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

“At the end of the day, it’s in the rear view mirror and we’ll probably prove 10 years from now [that the situation] has been much ado about nothing,” said King.