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Applicant seeks septic variance for proposed Willow Beans café at 6 Central Street
Summary
Willow Beans Café owners asked the Brookfield Board of Health for guidance on seeking a variance from Title 5 septic rules after their 1,500-gallon system was identified as below the typical 1,000 GPD restaurant-design standard; an engineer said projected daily use would be well under the system capacity.
Shelby Hill told the Brookfield Board of Health she plans to open Willow Beans Café in a 937-square-foot building at 6 Central Street and asked the board what steps are required to pursue a variance from Massachusetts Title 5 septic requirements.
“We're primarily going to be a takeout,” Hill said, describing limited on-site seating of six to eight and a mostly disposable-container operation. She said the building passed a Title 5 inspection in 2024 and that the existing septic is a 1,500-gallon tank.
An engineer who joined the presentation said the cafe’s expected water usage for six to eight seats would be roughly 210 to 280 gallons per day. “The usage is ranging anywhere from 95 gallons a day up to 200 a g a day,” the engineer said, adding that the proposed loads would be well under the design capacity of the current system but that Title 5 typically requires a 1,000-gallon-per-day minimum for food establishments.
Board members and staff walked the applicant through the next steps. The board said applicants must submit a septic-system design and a written variance request, notify abutters and place a public notice in the local paper, and that the board will hold a public hearing at which the board’s reviewer will recommend whether the variance is required and acceptable. The board emphasized that the public hearing and a formal vote are required steps before a variance can be granted.
Chair remarks reiterated the procedural timeline: review by the town’s designated Title 5 reviewer, public-notice and abutter notification, a public hearing, then board deliberation and vote. Hill said she and her team had prepared a sample floor plan, a proposed menu, and the 2024 Title 5 report and would follow up with the reviewer to set a hearing date.
The board did not vote on the variance request at the meeting; members directed staff to confirm submittal requirements and to schedule the public hearing once the written variance and septic plans are filed.
