Owner Daniel Neeleman said it will have a creamery component, where you can buy the farm’s butter and ice cream, as well as meats and other local goods.
“In the summer, when the weather's nice, people will just come out and sit on the picnic table and have an ice cream cone,” he told KPCW.
They would also like a garden, orchard, livestock facilities and event center.
And there’s good reason to think agricultural tourism could work for Ballerina: the Neeleman family has garnered millions of followers interested in their pastoral lifestyle.
The farm on North Democrat Alley gets its name from Hannah Neeleman’s career as a dancer. She also competes in pageants, has eight kids with Daniel and was recently profiled in The New York Times.
Ballerina Farm’s creamery would be on the south side of state Route 248, but that land isn’t contiguous with Kamas city limits right now. That means the Neelemans’ letter of intent will need signatures from the six landowners in between.
Daniel said their neighbors seem amenable, including Francis City and soon Summit County, which is halfway toward purchasing the Ure Ranch.
The Neelemans stopped by the Kamas City Council Feb. 13 to get the council’s take. Councilmembers were uniformly in favor of receiving the annexation application but it’s in no way a guarantee.
Mayor Matt McCormick said the annexation process is lengthy.
“So Mr. Neeleman’s got quite a bit of work to do, as well do we, as a council,” he said.
Before the process can begin, the six other property owners need to sign off on the letter of intent. Then, technicalities like utilities will need to be addressed.
The council indicated hooking up the creamery to city utilities would make the most sense. Those lines would be under the road, not on private property.
The annexation would align with Kamas’ goals in the meadow west of town.
The city pursued annexation two years ago to have a seat at the table should that area get developed, but feedback at the time was mixed. The Ballerina Farm annexation is smaller than the 2022 proposal.
The annexation also adds to the Kamas Valley’s changing landscape. Summit County plans to close on the Ure Ranch and landowners farther west are trying to incorporate a brand new town called “West Hills.”
Ballerina’s land on state Route 248 is not within the West Hills boundary, it’s just across the street.
