Farm weddings allowed in Westport

Weatherlow Farms wins zoners' approval for barn weddings

By Bruce Burdett
Posted 10/19/17

WESTPORT — Some neighbors are unhappy and board members voiced concerns, but Weatherlow Farms has won town permission to host weddings and other events in its new Sodom Road post and beam …

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Farm weddings allowed in Westport

Weatherlow Farms wins zoners' approval for barn weddings

Posted

WESTPORT — Some neighbors are unhappy and board members voiced concerns, but Weatherlow Farms has won town permission to host weddings and other events in its new Sodom Road post and beam barn.

They had no choice in the matter, said several members of the Zoning Board of appeals before voting 4-1 (Donna Lambert voted no) in favor of overriding a cease and desist order by Zoning Commissioner/Building Inspector Ralph Souza that had put a halt to the farm’s wedding plans.

“I really think this is a done deal based on the wide openness of our bylaw,” said board member Gerald Coutinho during a second long hearing on the matter. We are “hard pressed to say we can’t do this, that or anything else. The door is wide open.”

The bylaw he referred to was passed at town meeting last year (slightly refined from the year before) that allows farms of 5 acres or more to offer so-called agritourism and agri-entertainment events that involve a “farm related experience.”

Farm owner Ryan Wagner, as he had at the previous meeting, said weddings at Weatherlow will absolutely be a farm-related experience, and not just because the location is a farm.

“We raise protein (beef) and we grow flowers,” he said. A requirement of weddings there will be that the flowers and beef served come from the farm.

Town attorney Jeffrey Blake had his doubts.

The board’s task, he said, is to answer the question, “Are weddings a farm-related experience … I’m not sure weddings fall underneath that heading … It’s a stretch.”

“”I wish we wouldn’t get so hung up on weddings,” Mr. Coutinho said. “This goes way beyond weddings. Weddings will probably be the least of your concerns in the long run.” For a farm owner, it’s basically “whatever you want to do — motorbike rides through your farm? — anything that will draw people to your farm … and let the town worry about it later.”

There are no provisions in these bylaws for parking, liquor — “It’s just do it. Next year this same farm could be having outdoor concerts for 2,000 people. I think the town had better look at starting to tweak it a bit.”

Board of Selectmen member Brian Valcourt, a builder, said the barn, though beautiful, doesn’t meet safety standards for big gatherings.

The permit states that this was to be a barn, with a few offices and small commercial space.

“That was the bill of goods that was sold to the town … It seems to me that the intent was never for this to be a barn. It was to be a commercial facility which has to meet a much higher standard;” sprinklers, smoke and fire detectors, panic bars on doors, “because of the Station Night Club fire” — the same features that facilities like Whites,must install.

Farmers shouldn’t be able to say, “Hey, I’m a farmer, I can do whatever I want. That’s not how the code is set up. The code is there to protect lives.”

Neighbor Susan Sherman said weddings aren’t a farm related experience. The guests, she said, aren’t there to see the prime rib on the plate — “you’re there to watch two people get married and enjoy that moment … It’s a venue. We keep calling it a barn but because something looks like a barn …”

Neighbor Steve McGregor said his family sold the farm under agricultural preservation restrictions — “We could have sold it for house lots for a whole lot more. Saying that APR restrictions have nothing to do with this — they have everything to do with it.”

Weatherlow’s attorney, Frank DeLuna, repeatedly called on the board and audience to stay on topic.

The issue before the board, he said, is strictly zoning related — “can a farm conduct agritourism?”

Board of Selectmen member Shana Shufelt voiced support for the proposal.

“I think we are making little too much over the fact that this is a wedding. A wedding is no different than any other party or event. He is proposing selling his own products and bringing people to his farm.”

A couple would choose a wedding at a farm for the experience, she said — “If you didn’t want cows and chickens, you wouldn’t go there.”

“I agree it’s a slippery slope,” Ms. Shufelt added, “but it’s also pretty clear that the town of Westport (voters) supported farmers in our community bringing in alternative uses to feature their products and provide more income for their farms.”

Also supportive was neighbor Carla Samson who said that Westport Rivers Vineyard and Buzzards Bay Brewery are allowed to hold concerts and events and to deny this application wold be discrimination.

She also questions concerns voiced about drunkenness.

“As far as drunks on Sodom Road, check out all the nips along the side, (and) the Wednesday nights down at the Holy Ghost Club. Those drunks don’t come our way? Please. You’re blowing it out of proportion.”

Early in the meeting, Mr. Coutinho told fellow board members that he had checked with the state Ethics Commission and was advised that his participation and vote on the issue would not be a confliuct of interest.

A justice of the peace, he said he conducts weddings (for a fee of $125) and might be called on to preside at a Weatherlow wedding.

The commission told him that a conflict does not exist in part because he has no contractual relationship with Weatherlow Farms.

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