Cheshire planning panel approves zoning changes to allow indoor farm venues after applicant agrees to attendance cap

The Cheshire Planning & Zoning Commission on Tuesday approved a revision to town zoning rules that would allow year‑round indoor event venues at qualifying farms, provided a conservation restriction covers a substantial portion of the parcel. The commission adopted a friendly amendment capping indoor events at 275 attendees and retaining existing outdoor‑event limits after a lengthy public hearing.

Bill Cunningham, who said he and partners bought the former Norton Brothers Fruit Farm (now proposed as Kelly's Farm) to prevent a 25‑lot subdivision, told the commission the purchase was driven by preservation goals and financial reality. "The developer paid $3 million," he said, and the buyers paid roughly $5 million — "5 million, 50 thousand to be exact." Cunningham said the owners are asking the town, the state and a land trust to help finance about $2.5 million for a conservation easement that would extinguish development rights "in perpetuity." He told the board the venue would typically host 120–200 guests and that an insulated timber‑frame building would greatly reduce sound transmission.

Supporters argued the zoning change would give struggling farms a viable business model. Mike Czecheri, president of the Cheshire Land Trust, told the panel that adaptive reuse and limited events can provide farmers with essential revenue and help protect open land. "We're losing more and more farms in town," he said, and tools like easement‑backed reuse can be a lifeline.

Opponents focused on traffic, noise and the scope of the proposed text. Neighbor Peter Grant said the application as drafted would permit a large, privately owned entertainment use in a residential area and removes weekly limits on events; he urged the commission to limit — not expand — allowable uses. "Cheshire does not need a privately owned indoor and outdoor entertainment venue located in our suburb," Grant said.

Commissioners and town staff probed details that the zoning text does not itself lock in — including who would hold the restrictive easement, how much acreage must be covered, and whether the town would be the purchaser of development rights. Staff said the amendment as written requires that 60% (or a negotiated high percentage) of the qualifying contiguous acres be placed under a restriction prohibiting development, but it does not mandate that the town be the holder; the restriction could be held by a land trust, state program or another qualified holder. The town council, not the Planning & Zoning Commission, would decide whether to spend public funds to buy development rights.

To address residents’ concerns, the commission and applicant negotiated specific limits before the vote: the commission agreed to keep the existing outdoor‑event season and operational limits in place and to cap indoor event attendance at 275 people. The commission’s motion to approve the text amendment with those changes passed unanimously. The commission recorded letters and written submissions from dozens of residents and invited neighbors to participate in the later special‑permit and site‑plan reviews, where conditions on parking, noise mitigation, hours and traffic control will be considered.

Next steps for the applicant will include negotiating and documenting the conservation‑restriction instrument (and identifying its holder), and — if and when the applicant seeks to build — filing a special‑permit/site‑plan application that will subject the proposed building location, parking plan, hours and noise mitigation measures to a detailed public review and conditions. The town council will separately consider any decision to allocate funds to purchase development rights.

The commission closed the public hearing, adopted the amended text, and directed staff to prepare the revised language for recordation; specific permits for construction and operation will follow in later proceedings.