Little Compton concert controversy

Posted 9/5/15

Neighbors say Sakonnet Vineyard going big-time with its music; concerts' growth sparks complaints

LITTLE COMPTON — Sakonnet Vineyards on West Main Road has been hosting concerts Thursday nights and Sunday afternoons during the summer …

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Little Compton concert controversy

Posted

Neighbors say Sakonnet Vineyard going big-time with its music; concerts' growth sparks complaints

LITTLE COMPTON — Sakonnet Vineyards on West Main Road has been hosting concerts Thursday nights and Sunday afternoons during the summer and some neighbors said the amplified sound, bright lights and traffic have all become too much.

They took their complaints to the Little Compton Agricultural Conservancy Trust at its Town Hall meeting on Monday, Aug. 17, where 23 residents showed up.

A few days later on Aug. 20, more went to the Little Compton Town Council, which had the matter on its agenda.

The neighbors say that the noise, a sound stage the vineyard has constructed, traffic, and bright stadium lights at night, all violate the terms of the town’s conservation easement for the property.

”The noise significantly interferes with the quiet enjoyment of my property," said Amy Veri, in testimony to the Town Council. Ms. Veri is a lawyer who lives on West Main Road near the vineyard.

"The music can be heard inside my home with the windows closed. I cannot sit on my porch, spend time in my back yard, or enjoy my farm because of the volume of the music," she said.

"I hear it, and I live in the Commons," Town Council President Robert Mushen told the Agricultural Trust.

Ownership, however, says nothing is going on at there vineyard that didn’t happen under previous ownership.

"There's nothing going on that wasn't going on in the past," said Ray Holland, the lawyer for the vineyard.

Both the Agricultural Trust and Town Council voted to look into the matter further.

The conservation easement

The conservation rights are stated in an easement the Agricultural Trust bought and paid for in January 2008 for $2.225 million of taxpayer funds.

The easement permanently protects the land against development and also includes restrictions on the property’s use. With that easement, the then (2008) owners of the vineyards — Earl and Susan Samson — committed all those in the future who might buy the property to preserve the vineyard property "in perpetuity for farming and agricultural purposes."

It committed future owners to preserve the land "for crop production, and directly related uses," and to preserve the "prime and important soils, natural/ecological water resources, open space and scenic values" of the vineyard.

In December, 2012, Carolyn Rafaelian, founder and owner of Alex and Ani, the Cranston jewelry company, bought the vineyard for $8.45 million from the Samsons, who had owned it since 1987. She renamed it Carolyn's Sakonnet Vineyard.

The neighbors say the concerts are not consistent with the farming and agricultural purposes to which the land was promised by the easement.

The complaints

"We believe they're going way beyond the easement," Paul Clifford told the Agricultural Trust.

"How can you interpret a summer concert series to be agricultural," asked Jay Miller, a neighbor and a former judge and faculty member at Roger Williams University.

"You need to make a judgment call as to whether it is shifting to a different kind of business," said James Stergios, whose home is on West Main Road next to the winery entrance.

"My concern is mission creep," said Katherine Kelley. She said there is a billboard in East Providence on I-195 advertising the Alex and Ani summer concerts. "My fear is this will metasticize until someone puts a stop to it.”

The concerts, which came to a close for this summer with a show last Thursday, Sept. 3, are also billed on a website announcing them as the "Alex and Ani Summer Concert Series.

"The vineyard is inundated with hundreds of cars," said Jim Tumber, who lives directly in front of the vineyard on Main Road. "We should never have gotten to this point."

"They don't make their money with wine," said another speaker. "They make it with the entertainment side of things."

"Go see the 60-foot billboard on 195," a man said soon after.

One man said that before one concert he saw three tour buses pull into the vineyard full of young people. "No on was watching what they were drinking," he said. "What you have now is not what you had before.

The vineyard answers

The building inspector has no problem, the chief of police has no problem, Mr. Holland said. "We haven't violated what we're supposed to do there."

He said the Right-to-Farm Act "gives farms the right to have festivals and if you have festivals you have music."

Mr, Holland spoke from the podium and he remained there for the duration of the meeting, sometimes speaking directly to the Agricultural Trust members in comments that could not be heard in the audience.

The neighbors want the Trust to enforce the provisions of the easement.

The easement says the Agricultural Trust "has the right to enforce the terms and conditions" of the easement deed, the right to "enter the premises to inspect for violations," and "at its discretion take appropriate legal action," subject to 30 days notice.

In comments at the outset of the Agricultural Trust meeting, Chairman George said, "we did not purchase the right not to have concerts, the right not to have lights," or rights related to parking.

"Everything not stated in the easement remains with the owner," he said. "What we have jurisdiction over is enforcement of the specific words recorded in the deed."

The sound stage

A restriction in the deed states no "building" "or other temporary or permanent structure or improvement requiring construction shall be constructed, placed, or permitted to remain on" the premises, except ones related to winemaking on the property at the time the deed was executed.

A covered sound stage on a stone foundation has been constructed to accommodate the bands that perform in the concerts.

People shouldn't "expect us to be tent cops," Mr. Mason said. "We aren't the sound police or the lighting police."

He said the town has jurisdiction over zoning enforcement.

The Agricultural Trust voted unanimously to authorize its lawyer "to work with appropriate town officials to obtain zoning and other documentation relevant to Sakonnet Vineyards, to review and be presented to the board for a decision on easement concerns."

The Little Compton Town Council voted three nights later "to authorize Councilor Paul Golembeske and Councilor Charles Appleton to work with the town solicitor to review the existing noise ordinance, the 'confirmation of historical winery uses,' and the complaint of Ms. Amy Veri, and to return to a future council meeting with a report for consideration."

It also voted "to allow the Council President to make direct contact with the owner of Carolyn’s Sakonnet Vineyard or her designee to discuss the residents' concerns regarding the noise and current use of the vineyard, and to acknowledge that the LC Agricultural Conservancy Trust may like to have a representative in attendance as well."

Alex and Ani, Alex and Ani entertainment, Alex and Ani Summer Concert Series, Carolyn's Sakonnet Vineyard, conservation easements, Little Compton Agricultural Conservancy Trust, Sakonnet Vineyards

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