Town Sues Over Farm Shows

The township of Nockamixon, Pa., is suing to shut down a farm officials claim has violated local ordinances and woken the neighbors after it began holding concerts this past year.

Tower Farm hosted the Jam At The Grove 5 festival, which featured more than 30 bands and DJs, last August, as well as the Wetlands Reunion Jam in May, according to court documents obtained by the Intelligencer. The events even included camping, F & B sales and merch and reportedly drew as many as 2,000 people.

However there was one thing the owners, Mark Gallo and Marita Barisch, may have forgotten to secure prior to the shows – permits.

The township began notifying the owners they were in violation of residential zoning ordinances soon after Jam At The Grove took place, the Intelligencer said.

So after the pair hosted another concert this year, officials decided to take legal action, filing an injunction to pull the plug on the shows.

“This is a residential district which means it’s for residences; it’s not used for concerts with thousands of people coming in,” Nockamixon Township Solicitor Jordan Yeager told WFMZ News.

“We told them that they’re not allowed to do what they’re doing but they continue to do it,” he added. “Now we’ve been able to determine from some online research that they’re planning on doing it again in August.”

Gallo told the Intelligencer no plans are in the works for a Jam At The Grove 6, but said he’s always used a professional production team for the shows and has only recently run into trouble securing permits for shows from the new zoning officer in town.