Lavender doesn’t smell so sweet amid exhaust from cars and buses, says Alice Lucier of Sequim.
She asked Clallam County commissioners Tuesday to crack down on a neighbor who’ll host dozens of vendors at his farm during the annual Sequim Lavender Festival, plus hundreds of cars and thousands of tourists.
Michael Reichner, owner of Purple Haze Lavender Ltd., says that he’s not only within his rights, he’s established them in court.
“I have no apologies,” he said, “to anyone or anything.”
Lucier and Reichner are neighbors at 100 and 180 Bell Bottom Road, respectively, just east of the Sequim city line. On July 15, 16 and 17, their neighborhood will attract thousands of visitors to the lavender fest.
‘30,000 uninvited guests’
Lucier said Reichner violates the county’s zoning code. She was supported Tuesday by Elmer Floyd who complained of “20,000 to 30,000 uninvited guests on our property each year.”
However, Reichner said the state’s Right to Farm law permits him to conduct retail sales. Furthermore, Lucier’s complaints are old news to him.
“She sued me to close me down, took me to court,” he said.
“The court found that I was in absolutely no violation of any county ordinance or code.
“The courts have said, ‘Give it up, Alice, Mike is in the right.’ “
Reichner said his was the only house on the road when he started farming lavender. When Lucier moved in, he said, she told him she wanted to live next to a lavender farm because it was romantic.
“Well, it wasn’t as romantic as she thought,” he said.
Lucier agreed with him about that, at least.
She labeled the activity an “exploitation” that “tends to destroy the very surroundings and conditions that affect the liberty of private life.”
Another side of farming
But Reichner, who has quadrupled the size of his original 2½-acre operation, said the festival was simply another side of the Sequim area’s famous farms.
“It’s a pretty gorgeous part of the universe,” he said. “That is why people built their houses here.
“People from all over the world come and visit my farm.”
Those people make Lucier and Floyd miserable.
“A strong objection must be made about the use of residential property for fairground-type activities such as occur on Mr. Reichner’s parcel in July,” Lucier said.
“Last year, the activity took over some of the four-acre parcel across the road from me for a parking lot. Of course, workers pretty much took over the road as well to direct cars to a parking space and to answer questions.”