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Lakeville Planning Board delays Elliott Farm site-plan vote so departments can finish reviews
Summary
The planning board agreed to continue the Elliott Farm site-plan hearing at the applicant—s request and because key reviews (fire, police, board of health, selectmen) were incomplete; the farm said a COVID-19 grant requires completion by 2021-06-30.
The Town of Lakeville Planning Board on Nov. 12 agreed to continue the site-plan review for Elliott Farm at 202 Main Street so that the fire, police, board of health and selectmen can complete their reviews. Chair Mark recused himself from the hearing and Vice Chair Barbara Mankovsky ran the discussion.
Dee Elliott, owner of Elliott Farm, told the board the family operation has expanded to roughly 50 acres, runs a 200-member community-supported agriculture program and produced about 50,000 pounds of food the community used during the COVID-19 pandemic. "My name is Dee Elliott, owner of Elliott Farm on Main Street in Lakeville," Elliott said, and noted the project had received a state COVID-19-related grant that requires the new farm-stand facility be completed by June 30, 2021.
Engineer Bob Rigo of Riverhawk (presenting for the applicant) described the proposed work: demolishing the existing barn and constructing a new roughly 40-by-40 barn to serve as the farm stand with two covered overhangs, relocating the existing cooler to a dedicated loading dock and expanding parking from about 10 spaces to 19, including one van-accessible handicapped space. Rigo said the layout preserves existing grades and improves driveway access on Main Street.
Board members voiced strong community support but also urged the applicant to allow police and fire departments time to comment and to supply any required hard-copy submissions that were delayed by town-office closures around election day. Vice Chair Barbara moved to continue the hearing to next Thursday so all departments, including the board of selectmen, could review; the motion was seconded and passed (three yes votes, one abstention by the recused chair). Board members said they will schedule a short special meeting next Thursday to complete the review once outstanding comments are in.
Next steps: the board continued the hearing and expects updated departmental comments and any plan revisions at the reconvened session.
