Brookfield planning board approves expanded permitted uses for Moose Mountain with limits on camping, parking and music

The Brookfield Town Planning Board voted 4-0 to approve a package of permitted uses for the Moose Mountain property, allowing food service, outdoor weddings, food trucks and a list of outdoor recreational activities subject to conditions including a 92-space parking limit, hours of operation from 6 a.m. to midnight and restrictions on outdoor music.

The approval, made at the planning board meeting on Oct. 12, 2025, follows months of debate over whether previously observed uses (including a restaurant and functions) amount to a change of use that triggers site-plan review. The board also moved earlier in the meeting to deny site approval for a separate set of activities including RV camping and some types of large events; that denial was announced as carried 4-0.

The boards action matters because the property has a long, contested operating history and neighbors raised concerns about traffic, noise and parking. Planning board members said the conditions are intended to allow operations while preserving the boards ability to require building permits, parking plans and special-event permits where appropriate.

In the motion that passed, the planning board approved the following uses as permitted on the site, subject to the conditions below: food service/activity-driven uses; full-service restaurant operations; outdoor weddings; food trucks; and a range of recreational and low-impact commercial activities such as astronomy, bird watching, cross-country skiing, miniature golf (site to be shown on later amendment), equipment rental and similar activities described in the applicants submission.

Conditions attached to the approval include: - Hours of operation: 6 a.m. to midnight for approved activities unless a special-event permit extends hours for a limited event. - Parking: a cap of 92 parking spaces on-site; special-event permits may allow temporary exceedances. - Building permits and site-plan amendments required before constructing any new permanent structures (examples listed in the record include decks, permanent ramps, ski lifts, pools and zip lines). - Outdoor live music: permitted as an accessory to the full-service restaurant; non-amplified outdoor music allowed generally from noon until 9 p.m. on weekdays and noon until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays (the board recorded these times in the adopted motion language). - A parking-area sketch showing any parking outside the formal lot must be submitted to the board before using those spaces.

Planning board members repeatedly emphasized that permitted status under the zoning ordinance does not remove site-plan review requirements when a change of use occurs on a unique property. "Site-plan review exists to address traffic, noise, parking and delivery zones," a planning board member said during the discussion.

Neighbors raised traffic and safety concerns on narrow local roads and asked whether the town could require a traffic study. Planning board members said the board could not compel a traffic study in this case because of the zoning and review rules in effect, but said the select board and police department could be asked to examine speed enforcement or other traffic mitigation measures.

Several members of the property team and nearby residents spoke during public comment. Pam Steffington, a resident of Humboldtastic Road, said she was "concerned about the impact to Moose Mountain Grove" if the facility begins to attract more vehicles and asked about blind spots and a bridge on the access road. Jay Anderson, a resident of White Mountain Wakefield, questioned excluding uses that would require building permits and urged the board to allow applicants to return with specific site-plan amendments. Property co-owners Dana and Dan (first names provided in the transcript) told the board they had been pursuing approval for five years and asked that the board allow the permitted uses so the property can generate revenue to maintain the mountain.

Earlier in the meeting the board made a separate motion that denied site approval for a short list of activities (the board recorded the denial and indicated the motion carried 4-0). The planning boards final approved motion and conditions were read into the record and then voted on; the board chair announced the motion carried 4-0.

The board directed the applicant to submit a parking-area sketch and reminded the applicants that any new lighting or permanent structures would require an amendment to the approved site plan and applicable building permits. The board also noted that special-event permits will be used for events seeking to extend hours or exceed the parking cap.

No dollar amounts or new funding commitments were made at the meeting. The board and speakers repeatedly referenced prior approvals and records (including a 2010 approval for functions and events and other historical approvals discussed in the record) as part of the debate over whether a restaurant had been continuously operating and whether that history changes the current review obligations.

The planning board said it will monitor compliance and that enforcement or special-event permitting processes could address any future problems with noise, parking or traffic.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to deny site approval for RV camping, competitive mountain biking, gun shows, craft fairs and certain large-event uses (board recorded motion as denied for that list): outcome recorded as carried (deny) 4-0. - Motion to approve a set of permitted uses (including food service/activity-driven uses, full-service restaurant, outdoor weddings, food trucks and other outdoor recreation and low-impact commercial activities) subject to the conditions above: approved 4-0.

The planning boards written site-plan decision will contain the full, itemized list of approved uses and the exact condition language, and applicants must secure any local, state and federal permits required before undertaking approved activities.