SEYMOUR – Readers have been contacting The Valley Indy on social media to point out town land-use records for Red Clover Farms include the word “commercial.”

They are correct, and this story attempts to explain why that is.

Background

Red Clover Farms at 174 S. Benham Road received a cease and desist from the Seymour zoning enforcement officer in April. The town said the farm was engaging in commercial activity not allowed in a residential zone.

Those activities include open mics, live music, crafts, and food truck events.

However, Red Clover Farms owner Kim Dulka Warner and her supporters have said the issue is that her neighbors, Al and Kristen Bruno, have been complaining about her for years. Al Bruno is a member of the Seymour Board of Selectpersons and Kristen Bruno is on the Seymour Board of Education.

Click here for a previous Valley Indy story that chronicles some of the conflict.

Dulka Warner has also said that modern farms can’t rely on selling crops to stay in business.

The town’s zoning board of appeals voted Aug.6 to uphold the cease and desist, while at the same time allowing Dulka Warner to use the land how she sees fit for 90 days.

Meanwhile, during those 90 days, the town’s planning and zoning commission, at the urging of Seymour First Selectwoman Annmarie Drugonis, is working on adding “agritourism” into the land use regulations.

That could give Red Clover Farms the formal green light to do what the town has said she’s been doing without authorization.

The planning and zoning commission is scheduled to meet again to talk about agritourism when it continues a public hearing Thursday (Aug. 13) at 6 p.m. at Seymour Town Hall.

Commercial or Residential?

Town officials, including the corporation counsel and the ZEO, have repeatedly said Red Clover Farms is in a residential zone.

However, a page on the online assessor records connected to the address show the word commercial.

That commercial designation applies only to the barn/farm stand, town officials said. It does not apply to the property as a whole, officials said, nor does it replace the residential zoning. 

“It is my understanding that the barn is being used as a retail space, so the commercial classification is correct,” Seymour Assessor David Graybosch told the Valley Indy via an email. “It is my understanding the owner is allowed to conduct retail activities such as selling products produced on the farm.”

The owner is allowed to sell her own farm-grown products and can sell agricultural and Connecticut-grown products, as well as have animals on the property, town officials said. 

John Marini, the town’s land-use attorney, said the commercial designation for the barn/farm stand does not apply to the property as a whole. He also said the commercial designation as it applies to the barn is narrow.

“The assessor is noting (the barn) is a commercial use, but it is not in a commercial zone, and it’s for the limited purpose of operating a farmstand/barn/retail building,” Marini said. “It’s a retail farm stand and she can sell farm-related things. The assessor’s information is noted correctly, and it doesn’t conflict with the zoning. The assessor is labeling it that way for taxes. There are retail sales going on there, and the (commercial) designation is linked to that retail component.”

Marini said that while the farm is allowed to sell farm-grown products, it is not permitted to host non-agricultural activities, like open mic nights, live music and wellness retreats, that he said have been conducted at the farm in recent years. He said those activities are prohibited under existing zoning regulations.

Red Clover Farms owner Kim Dulka Warner said she wasn’t aware her barn had a commercial designation until earlier this year. She said her father, who passed away in 2024, always handled everything for the farm, including paying bills and addressing any letters, emails and other communication from the town.

“I found out when a friend of mine pulled the field card and said the barn was zoned commercially,” Dulka Warner said. “That wasn’t even something I was aware of because my dad handled everything. We were just a farm being a farm doing classes and workshops, which were 95 percent farm-related. If I knew there were certain permits I needed, I would have gotten them.”

Town officials said they reached out to the farm over the years, offering to help and ensure that the farm was in compliance. 

Dulka Warner said if letters from the town were addressed to her, her dad took care of matters.

“My dad was always the one who dealt with the town,” she said. “I never heard the town was going to work with me and rewrite zoning laws. If that was the case, why would I not go down there?”

Dulka Warner said she was disappointed with the ZBA’s ruling, and said appealing the matter to the Superior Court is an option, although an expensive one.   

A fundraising campaign has since been launched to help with legal expenses.

“I was told I have 15 days (from the ZBA vote) to appeal to Superior Court,” Dulka Warner said. “I can start that process if I want to go that route. It’s very expensive to start the process. I’m not sure what I’m going to do. I don’t realistically see sitting at my farm all day long selling a potato. I don’t think our farm will be able to sustain not having anything.”