Middletown panel recommends approval of Sweetberry Farm master plan with conditions

The Middletown Conservation Commission on April 13 voted 5'0to'00 to recommend approval of Sweetberry Farm LLC's master plan to the Planning Board, adding two conditions aimed at limiting impervious area and protecting watershed health.

Chair Melissa Welch said the commission's review focuses on watershed resources, natural-resource protection and preservation of natural aesthetics. "We are not decision makers; we recommend," Welch said, explaining the panel would forward its findings and conditions to the Planning Board for the next stage of review.

The applicant, represented by Gerard Galvin, presented a team that included owner Tom Haggerty, civil engineer Lynn Small and landscape architect Pamela Rogers. Haggerty told the commission he purchased Sweetberry to preserve and rejuvenate the farm, and outlined plans that include a roughly 7,500'sq'ft barn, a linked market/cafe, additional wells, soil-rehabilitation work and an expanded orchard program across about a 49-acre parcel shown in the application. "Our goal is to take this farm from 3,700 trees to 5,000, 6,000 trees," Haggerty said, describing a multi-year replanting and production plan.

Engineers emphasized that the project is at master-plan level and that detailed stormwater designs will come with preliminary plans. Lynn Small of Northeast Engineering explained the site drains to east and west from a ridge and said the draft approach includes pretreatment (sediment forebays), water-quality treatment (sand filters/bioretention with underdrains) and detention to reduce peak post-construction runoff. Small also said the nearest wetlands are more than 200 feet from the proposed building footprint and that the project will require state stormwater permitting because it exceeds one acre.

Landscape architect Pamela Rogers said the plan calls for predominantly native plantings, pollinator meadows and a substantial buffer between the development and adjacent wetlands and residences. The team also described an interactive demonstration garden and a "flower corridor" to support farm education and public interaction.

Commission discussion centered on stormwater impacts, the scale of impervious surfaces (parking and new circulation), and whether pervious surfaces or narrower circulation lanes could reduce runoff and long-term maintenance impacts. Commissioners asked how conservation easements held by the Aquidneck Island Land Trust affect the project; Galvin and Haggerty said the land trust had reviewed the plans and provided letters indicating the proposed accessory farm uses fit within existing easements so long as farming remains the principal use.

Members also questioned potential event use, traffic, on-site processing needs and year-round operations. The applicant said events would remain accessory to agricultural use under the current approvals, a traffic study will be required at preliminary plan, and infrastructure needs (wash plants, pasteurization line for cider) are still being refined.

After deliberation the commission approved two conditions to accompany its recommendation: first, that the project "utilize pervious material to the maximum extent practicable in parking areas and roadways," and second, that the applicant "consider reducing roadway width to 20 feet rather than 24 feet where practicable." The commission recorded a unanimous recommendation (5'yes, 0'no) to forward the master plan and its conditions to the Planning Board.

Next steps: the project will proceed to the Planning Board's scheduled public forum in May for broader public comment and then to the preliminary-plan stage, where detailed engineering, traffic studies, and state permitting applications will be submitted.

Commission business that followed included recording a town resolution supporting a state invasive-plants bill for the meeting record and changing the commission's regular meeting date to the last Wednesday of the month.