The owners of New Ipswich’s Old Homestead Farm have been granted permission to build an event pavilion on the 160-acre farm to host parties, dances, weddings and community events.
Chelsea and Ben Hatcher, owners of the Old Homestead Farm on Greenville Road, appeared before the Zoning Board of Adjustment Thursday to discuss building an event center in the town’s rural area as a complement to their working farm. sought a variance to allow it to be installed. Board members Jeff Muhonen, Walker Farley, David Large and Brett Kibera weighed in on the matter, while Daniel Sikkila, Lou Alvarez and Dwayne White recused themselves from the discussion.
Hatcher’s offers an open-sided pavilion and fire pit that can be used to host weddings, showers, birthdays, family celebrations, line dances, corporate events, field trips, farmers markets, community events, graduations, dances and proms, and farmhouses. proposed construction. – Dining to your table, ice skating, sledding or tubing on nearby hills.
Ben Hatcher said the site is large and surrounded by woodland, which acts as a buffer between the event space and the neighborhood. The farm is located approximately 800m back from the road and the pavilion is approximately 400m from the nearest neighbor.
The couple has hosted public events at the farm, including a grand opening event where community members were welcome to tour the farm, which drew about 1,000 people that day, Chelsea Hatcher said. It also provides space for prom dances in the event a school does not host a prom due to COVID-19, and line dances are currently held in one of the on-site garages. Ta.
Ben Hatcher said the event complies with the town’s noise ordinance, which goes into effect at 10 p.m., but he said he has not received any complaints from neighbors related to the activity to date.
Several neighbors spoke in favor of the proposal, but there were no comments in opposition.
“I think that’s what’s best for the neighborhood,” Avatar Steve Riggs said. “We support it 100%. We wish them the best.”
Neighbor Tim Jones said he knew the couple and said they were “great neighbors.”
“We wholeheartedly support what they’re trying to do,” Jones said after the couple made it clear they had no intention of holding a concert at the venue.
Al Jenks of New Ipswich, who owns Windblown Cross Country Ski Area, has hosted similar events on a smaller scale, and says he appreciates the time and energy it takes to maintain such a business. He praised the couple for their efforts and said it could be good for the economy. Local community/community.
“It spreads good energy around,” Jenks said.
Board members raised two main points when discussing whether the proposal met the town’s standards for variance. Two reasons are the land’s distance from neighbors and a large buffer, and two are the increased need for agricultural use to be supplemented with other income.
Mr. Farley said the proposal “piggybacks on permitted agricultural uses.”
Large noted that due to the large size of the site and the surrounding forest, the pavilion was not visible and it was unlikely that neighbors would hear what was happening.
“I don’t know how many times we have buffers like this,” Raj said.
Hatchers said the largest event would be 250 people, including guests and staff. Farley said Greenville Road is a major access road between New Ipswich and Greenville and is a busy road, with the amount of cars on the road for events even multiple times a week. He pointed out that there would be no unnecessary burden.
The size of the event and how many times per week it would be held was a minor issue for the board. Lage initially proposed conditions that would allow up to two events per week, but Kibera pushed back on that proposal, saying there were some events he didn’t want to limit at all, such as school field trips and some community events.
Muhonen said the board agreed that the property was suitable for such an event, so they didn’t think any kind of restrictions were necessary.
In the end, the board reached a compromise, limiting events of more than 100 people to two per week, weddings specifically to once per week, and placing no other limits on the frequency of events.
Mr. Lage also proposed, and other members of the board approved, a restriction that the event business be an adjunct to, and not a replacement for, the farming operation.
The board also agreed to limit the number of attendees to 250 people and keep the event from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Hatcher will be required to submit a review of the site plan to the Planning Commission.
The board approved the proposal with conditions on a 4-0 vote.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172, extension 60. 244 or asaarI@ledgertranscript.com. She belongs to her X @AshleySaariMLT.