Neighbors in Lillian are divided over one resident’s plan to create a farmers market on her property on Barclay Avenue. The Baldwin County Commission will consider her request next month, after the county planning commission ruled 6-3 in the property owner’s favor last week.

“I had the reward to see people coming and see where it is organic food that I can eat, not only myself and my family, but also my community,” Maria Nogueira, a native of Brazil who owns the farm, said during the meeting.

Nogueira has owned her property for ten years, she says, and has tried to find something to do with it: first, she wanted to build an RV park, then a bed and breakfast. After Hurricane Sally in 2020, she decided to start growing blueberries that visitors can pick themselves at her farm. Now, she wants to be able to sell the blueberries on her property, as well as honey, vegetables and other products.

Last week, the Baldwin County Planning and Zoning Commission voted to recommend approval of Nogueira’s request to rezone the roughly six-acre property from residential use to rural agricultural use for the farm. The county commission has the final say on the matter, as they do with all rezonings.

But some of her neighbors are concerned about the increase in traffic that would come with having a farmers market in their neighborhood, as well as straining parking and increasing the noise in the neighborhood. Around 25 residents of the area signed a petition submitted to the Baldwin County Planning and Zoning Department opposing the project.