Most of the last rural spaces in Montgomery County, Maryland, are protected in what’s known as the Agricultural Reserve. Businesses there are required to support or promote interest in agriculture.
That definition includes breweries and wineries, but it doesn’t include The Garage, a unique live music space deep on a farm in the middle of the Agricultural Reserve.
About 17 miles from the bright lights of North Bethesda, Montgomery County opens into tree-lined country roads and the lush green fields of Boyds. Since 2023, that’s also been the home of The Garage, which creators describe as “punk, independent and proudly queer friendly.” It has a home built sound system and stage, a heavy emphasis on punk and hardcore music, and a proudly queer-friendly ethos.
One of the last shows before it got hit with a cease-and-desist order by the county was a fundraiser featuring D.C. riot grrrl band Mac N’ Toss to benefit the nonprofit Sexual Violence Prevention Association.
The Garage sits on Honey Acres Farm, which is owned by Garage cofounder Levi Hebeisen’s father.
The other cofounder, Grace Cotting, said showgoers often comment on how much they enjoy and appreciate the rural setting.
Tickets run about $10.
In April 2025, plans were in the works for a music festival.
“The intention of blending every aspect of everything we do on the farm with the music that we have,” Cotting said. “So, there were little hayrides, there was pick your own flowers available. We were gonna have, like, a petting zoo with all of our goats.”
A permit was issued but rescinded four days later, Cotting said.
Then came the cease-and-desist order against which The Garage is defending itself in court.
“They have cited it as a recreational facility,” Cotting said. “They have not given any definition, both in the one private meeting we’ve been able to have with the Department of Permitting Service. In the past, like, year, there’s been one meeting, and they couldn’t define ‘recreational facility’ then, and again when they were asked on stand in court, they would not define that.”
Cotting and Hebeisen urge supporters to talk to Montgomery County officials. They want The Garage and Honey Acres Farm given the same permission to have live music as the wineries and breweries in the Agricultural Reserve.
“Yes, we want to reopen but we want answers,” Cotting said. “We want to know if we are breaking this rule, what is the rule? What is the definition of this term? How can we abide by the rules? How can we meet in the middle? And it’s just been stone cold silence on the other end.”
The Department of Permitting Services said it can’t comment on pending litigation.
