Carmel, Noblesville family wants Cicero to have world’s tallest goat tower

By Thursday night, Cicero could be set to become the home of the world’s tallest goat tower.

The Cicero/Jackson Township Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) will hear from James Adams of Juniper Farms, LLC about a variance application that, if approved, will not only allow him to build a Christmas tree farm in the style of Medieval European village, but also build the world’s tallest goat tower.

The questions about this seem to be legion, so The Reporter spoke to Adams, the BZA and the law firm who prepared the variance application about this unique application.

Juniper Farms is owned by Rich and Lori Adams of Carmel. James Adams, their son and the BZA applicant, lives in Noblesville and runs the Juniper Farms property in Cicero.

What is a goat tower?

It is literally a tower for goats to climb.

Goat towers date back to the 19^th century when first goat tower was built at Aveleda, a winery in Portugal’s Vinho Verde region. In the 1960s, a winemaker from South Africa’s Fairview Winery, who had seen the Aveleda goat tower was inspired by it, decided to build one. That tower was built in 1981 and seem to be the primary inspiration for goat towers around the world, including at least six in the America.

“They’re obsessed with height and they like to climb things,” Adams told The Reporter. “That’s the reason a goat tower makes sense. When they were living in Africa, they would naturally climb mountains.”

Adams has four goats living on the farmland purchased by his family, and when he learned that Illinois has a 31-foot goat tower that the owners say is officially the world’s tallest goat tower, he decided he wanted one that was even taller.

According to Daily Press Newspaper, David and Diane Sheldon of Hampton Roads Winery in Elberon, Va., actually have the world’s tallest goat tower, unofficially. The Sheldons designed the goat tower with the intention of breaking a world record. Although not an official record, the tower stands 34 feet tall.

Adams is currently planning a 35-foot tall tower for his goats.

Why only 35 feet?

“It is all because of Cicero’s zoning,” Adams said. “It will be hard to get 35 passed. I can feel the atmosphere from the board of zoning appeals – they are going to wonder why this is necessary. The reason I chose 35 feet is because primary structures can be 35 feet. If you are not doing anything out of the ordinary you can go 35 feet. I would love to go higher if I could.”

If he is granted his variance, he does plan to apply to Guinness for the record once the tower is complete.

Medieval European influence

“The whole idea stems from the Christmas tree farm and it goes back to castles and towers,” Adams said. “I have always liked the idea of being in a castle and looking out on my land, and I thought, ‘What is more magical than a Christmas tree farm?’ What I am going for on the farm is some quaint little English village.”

The BZA packet Juniper Farms submitted includes plans for a classic European formal garden on the property and a 35-foot tall craft house in old-Europe architectural style.

The rest of the farm

While the goat tower is almost certain to be a major discussion during his hearing, the rest of the plans for Juniper Farms are not out of the ordinary.

Church Church Hittle + Antrim Land Use Professional Andrew E. Wert told The Reporter Juniper Farms proposes to cater to small groups.

“Events will largely be limited to pre-scheduled appointments,” Wert said.

This is intended to prevent any concerns about noise ordinance violations.

“Cicero’s height standard for accessory buildings is 22 feet,” Wert said. “The proposed goat tower will be 35 feet. The other structure proposed will meet the height standard of the zoning district.”

Adams said he is very excited about preserving nature and giving a small portion of the farmland back to nature. He will be starting a pollinator garden and is currently selling microgreens.

“We have a microgreens business that we sell primarily to Market Wagon,” Adams told The Reporter. “We also sell to Broccoli Bills in Carmel. It’s new and we have just started it, but we are hoping to turn it into something bigger.”

The Adams family purchased the land about three years ago and will begin selling pre-cut Christmas trees as soon as 2023, though trees cut from their own land will not be available until 2026 due to growing time.

“If we are given the variances, the craft shop will be built around 2023,” Adams said.

In the meantime, they plan to start a roadside stand selling organic produce from the farm, which does not require a variance.

“Here’s the thing about the goat tower,” Adams said. “We can have the goat tower up to 22 feet. There’s going to be a goat tower on our land regardless of what happens on Thursday. But I also think it would be cool to break the world’s record.”

If he cannot get the variance for the tallest goat tower, he may consider building multiple towers to set the record for most goat towers on one farm.

“If you look at the picture of the craft shop [in the variance application packet], that will have a tower as well,” Adams said. “The goat tower is mirroring that tower, so it would be the Two Towers.”

Be heard

The Illinois goat tower is called the Tower of Baa. If you would like to suggest a name for the future Cicero tower, regardless of how high the BZA allows it to be built, you can email your suggestions to James Adams at jhuntadams@gmail.com.

If you want to reach out the Cicero/Jackson Township BZA to express your support or disapproval for this project, email acirner@townofcicero.in.gov. Please include your city of residence in the body of your email.

Don’t be sheepish, butt in and let your voice be heard.

Editor’s note: The Reporter was not able to confirm the Guinness World Record for the Tower of Baa and our attempts to reach the owner of that tower for comment about the possibility of someone setting a new record were unsuccessful.

The Cicero/Jackson Township Board of Zoning Appeals will meet at 7 p.m. on June 18, 2020, in the Cicero Red Bridge Park Community Building, located at 697 W. Jackson St., Cicero.