Tear down the greenhouse and comply with code — or face regulatory ruin.
On private, unincorporated land flanked by a Rocky Mountain horizon, Jenny Loop broke ground on a greenhouse in June 2024. At the cusp of completion in 2025, officials in Teller County, Colorado, shut her down, citing a breach of code.
Loop is unbowed: “They use regulations like a battering ram, but they’re not above state law. Our state’s Farm Stand Act of 2019 gives me the right to operate.”
The right to farm is yesterday’s footnote, but zoning regulations reign supreme, according to the county.
Knock on the Door
The public saw bare shelves. Jenny Loop saw opportunity.
In 2021, during the Covid era, Loop stared at empty grocery store racks and responded with a self-reliant remedy. “I decided to build a greenhouse on our property. As a little girl, I learned from my grandfather to tend a garden. Grow and share — that’s what he taught me.”
At 9,200’ in elevation, outside Divide, Colo., Loop, 36, and her husband, Zach, 40, along with two sons (10 and 11) and two daughters (twins, 19), have four acres of unincorporated and unannexed ground. Loop owns a mortgage brokerage; Zach owns a tractor dealership and mobile repair company.
Their greenhouse plan was a family affair: “It was a huge 4-H and FFA opportunity for our boys,” Loop says. “There’s also a young entrepreneurship program at our farmer’s market. The kids planned ahead and took online marketing classes to get ready.”
“The more I talked with neighbors and friends, the more excited I got,” she continues. “Fresh produce at a reasonable price is exactly what our county needs. Our state imports 70% of its food, and locally something as simple as heirloom tomatoes can run $7 per pound. A single kiwi can be $3.”
Intending to grow cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, and kiwis behind her home, Loop began building a 168’ long (2,800 square feet) greenhouse in June 2024, aiming to maximize space via 40 hydroponic towers—each potentially producing 400-600 lb. of tomatoes, according to her projections.
“Work hard, grow our own food, supply a serious need in our community, and teach our kids along the way,” Loop summarizes. “Out of the city limits and on our own land. We sure weren’t bothering anyone.”
And then came a knock on the door from a county code enforcement official: What are you building?
Green Light?
Loop hid nothing, she insists.
“I was proud and excited. I told the county officer exactly what I was building and why.”
Initially, the officer told Loop a permit was required for greenhouse construction.
“I showed him the agricultural definitions in county code that stated a permit wasn’t required. This was agricultural, as in attempting to grow with intent of profit. Right then, from the start, the county knew I’d be selling crops.”
(Teller County officials did not respond to Agweb interview requests regarding Loop’s greenhouse.)
Loop cited Section R105 Permits R105.2, Work exempt from permit … 12. Agricultural buildings that meet all the following: (a) are used solely for the agricultural uses that are the basis for the property being classified as agricultural land by the County Assessor, (b) are not used for residential purposes, such as storing household items, personal vehicles, etc., and (c) meet the setback requirements of the Land Use Regulations that would apply were a building permit required. Although no permit for such buildings is required, all construction is required to follow all current building codes in place.
“The officer gave me a green light, but said I’d need to get a permit for the electricity when I put in electricity. Absolutely.”
Fast forward a year into May 2025. Loop obtained an electrical permit. The greenhouse was near completion, almost ready for installation of a fan-circulation system. “Teller County then came out for inspection and put a stop-work-order on me,” Loop recounts. “I’d spent $150,000 and was on my own land, out in the county, and about to meet a genuine food need. But none of that mattered. Only the regulations mattered.”
Tomato Crimes?
Thus began a hamster wheel of appeals, letters, and meetings.
“They pulled the stop work order knowing I needed a profit for an FSA application. I got the stop work order pulled and we put in $15,000 worth of electricity. They came and inspected that, and once again, they hit me with a second stop work order,” Loop recalls. “That was the bottom line —they would find a way to block our greenhouse, no matter what hoops we jumped through. Literally, you have to appeal to basically the same people that say you’re in violation to begin with.”
“I showed county officials their own code definition: ‘Agricultural land is located in an incorporated or unincorporated area (without regard to zoning),’ but they didn’t seem to know what I was talking about. I met with Planning Director Dan Swallow and he was completely dismissive. I was treated awfully in front of my kids and he didn’t want to hear a word.”
On June 17, Teller County sent Loop a letter listing her violations: Your property is classified as residential by the Teller County Assessor. This classification disqualifies you from the agricultural exemption from building permits.
“The permit isn’t the problem,” Loop details. “I have applied for the permit and they denied the permit too, citing zoning for commercial use. I can have the building if I don’t sell, but even if I say I wont sell, they still won’t give me the permit.”
“That’s it, according to the county,” she continues. “They said my appeal privileges were over and to tear down the structure. They sent another letter in July from Swallow and it included all the ways they could ruin me with penalties, take me to county and district court, and count every single day I’m in violation as a separate offense.”
And all stemming from the crime of attempting to grow tomatoes in a greenhouse beyond code — an agricultural action, Loop insists, that is protected by an overriding authority: The Farm Stand Act.
Word Games
Regardless of county codes, regulations, or rules, Loop cites an agricultural trump card as her greenhouse protection. Specifically, Colorado’s Farm Stand Act, passed in 2019: Concerning the ability of a farm stand to be operated on a principal use site of any sized land area regardless of whether the site has been zoned by a local government for agricultural operations.
The Act’s final paragraph is particularly explicit, she says: Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a farm stand may be located on a parcel of any size. The retail sale of goods to the public by a farm stand must include goods or other agricultural products that are grown or produced on the principal use site on which the farm stand is located or may include agricultural products resulting from the agricultural operation that not conducted on the principal use sit to the extent permitted by the applicable local government. Nothing in this Article 31 prohibits a local government from requiring the operator of a farm stand to obtain a valid license or permit or to comply with any other applicable laws prior to operating the farm stand but in no way shall such local permitting, licensing, or other applicable legal requirements deny the use of the site as described in this section.
“I’m not a lawyer, but I don’t have to play word games to understand what the Act says. The county has no way around the text, other to pretend I don’t have a farm stand. However, my greenhouse is a dual farm stand — a place to sell and grow, and I’m protected by this very state law.”
Regulation and Reason
How did Teller County respond to Loop’s assertions regarding the Farm Stand Act?
“They told me they ‘didn’t have to follow state law’ in this case,” Loop contends. “I asked, ‘Why?’ and they still haven’t given me a response because they know there’s not a straight answer. State law supersedes county regulations and they know it.”
Colorado State Senator Mark Baisley, representing eight counties, including Teller County, has taken interest in Loop’s case. Baisley has spoken with all three county commissioners, the county attorney, the Colorado Office of Legislative Legal Services, and Capitol attorneys regarding Right to Farm.
In an email statement to Agweb, Baisley states his support of Loop and the Farm Stand Act. He references the aforementioned final paragraph: “My advice to Ms. Loop is that she attempt to resolve the matter informally with the County directly or obtain legal counsel to assert the position that her property meets the description of a farm stand and ‘IN NO WAY SHALL SUCH LOCAL PERMITTING, LICENSING, OR OTHER APPLICABLE LEGAL REQUIREMENTS DENY THE USE OF THE SITE AS DESCRIBED IN THIS SECTION.’”
“In the end, I hope for a positive outcome for Ms. Loop,” Baisley adds. “She has invested a tremendous amount of treasure and energy into this entrepreneurial dream.”
Teller County’s reaction to Loop’s greenhouse comes with a heavy dose of irony, she believes. On page 14 of the county’s 15-year Strategic Plan 2021-2036, the report lists a particularly relevant “anticipated” need: Financial support to implement programs that support healthy eating, active living for aging senior population.
“You gotta be kidding. How ironic can you get?” Loop exclaims. “It’s in black-and-white in their own plan. They’re concerned about getting finances to boost healthy eating. In reality, they don’t have to find the funding. I’ve already paid for it myself, but look how I’m being treated for daring to supply my community with food.”
What happens next?
If necessary, Loop intends to fight in court. “I’m up against unreal power, but I’m willing to fight for several reasons. One, my family and I want to provide vegetables to our community at scale — something that hasn’t been done around here since about 1930. Two, I want to bring attention to this overregulation so it helps someone else down the road. Regulation shouldn’t override basic reason.”
Loop’s legal fight includes a GoFundMe account: “If I have to go to court, then that’s what I’ll do,” she concludes. “I have the right on my own land to both grow and sell crops.”
For more from Chris Bennett (@ChrisBennettMS or cbennett@farmjournal.com or 662-592-1106), see:
County Shuts Down 15-Yr-Old’s Bait Stand on Family Farm, Threatens Daily Fines
City Gov to Seize 175-Year-Old Farm by Eminent Domain, Replace with Affordable Housing
Ghost Cattle: $650M Ponzi Rocks Livestock Industry, Money Still Missing
Game of Horns: Iowa Poacher’s Antler Addiction Leads to Historic Bust
How the Deep State Tried, and Failed, to Crush an American Farmer
Sisters of Farm Fraud: How 4 Siblings Fleeced USDA for $10M
Corn and Cocaine: Roger Reaves and the Most Incredible Farm Story Never Told
