SEYMOUR – There are at least two items of interest on the agenda of the Seymour Planning and Zoning Commission Thursday (May 14).
Red Clover Farms
First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis said she will be addressing members of the town’s planning and zoning commission Thursday to ask them to consider adding “agritourism” to Seymour’s zoning code.
“I am charging the Zoning Enforcement Officer along with the Planning and Zoning Commission to put in place a text change amendment for farming industry to include agritourism,” Drugonis told The Valley Indy Wednesday (May 13). “It can allow events to take place, classes to take place. Agritourism brings people into town and allows (farms) to do things other than plant a tomato and peel some ears of corn.”
A zone-text amendment would have to be approved by the commission after a public hearing. The zone text change would have to be circulated for public review. Those moves are not expected to all happen Thursday.
Drugonis’ move comes as the Seymour Zoning Board of Appeals deals with a cease and desist order issued by the town’s zoning enforcement officer to Red Clover Farms at 174 South Benham Road.
The farm was cited for activities on the farm currently not allowed by in town zoning. Those activities include open mic nights, Sunday music jams and food truck appearances, according to previous Valley Indy reporting.
Red Clover Farms neighbors Al and Kristen Bruno filed a complaint with the town’s land use department about the farm in April.
Al Bruno, at a Seymour ZBA meeting May 7, said the farm was essentially operating as a store, a commercial use not allowed in the residential zone.
Bruno, a member of the Board of Selectpersons (the town’s legislative body) raised quality of life concerns.
Red Clover Farms owner Kim Dulka Warner said she needed to diversify her property’s offerings because farms can’t stay in business if they only sell tomatoes and corn.
Click here for a previous story.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines agritourism as “a form of commercial enterprise that links agricultural production and/or processing with tourism to attract visitors onto a farm, ranch, or other agricultural business for the purposes of entertaining or educating the visitors while generating income for the farm, ranch, or business owner.”
Seymour Zoning Enforcement Officer Michael Marganski is scheduled to brief the members of the planning and zoning commission on the Red Clover Farms situation during the May 14 meeting.
Pearl Street Zone Change Request
The commission is also scheduled to hold a 6 p.m. public hearing 18, 28, and 32 Pearl St. There is a request to change the zoning of those properties to multi-family.
Second Street Construction, LLC, based in Oxford, is requesting the zone change, according to previous Valley Indy reporting.
If the zone change is granted, the developer plans to apply to build 108 housing units in three buildings.
Neighbors have previously spoken in opposition to the zone change.
Read this story for the background.
The application itself is not posted to the town’s website, but is available to the public in the town’s land use office, located on the second floor of 20 Pine St.
Click here for the public hearing agenda.