The owner of a vineyard on part of a historic farm in Middlebury is looking for a cafe permit that some neighbors fear could lead to noisy, large-scale outdoor events and parties in a quiet, rural part of town.
Tranquillity Vineyard & Winery’s application for a Connecticut craft cafe liquor license has some property owners campaigning to get the state Liquor Control Commission to reject the request.
At the same time, a local non-profit called Save Historic Middlebury is also pressing local officials to block the initiative, saying it would damage what it calls “one of Connecticut’s most prized landscapes.”
On its website, the organization warns “Tranquility Farm, one of the most historic properties in Middlebury and the state of Connecticut, is under threat of the degradation of its history and protected views by attempted overdevelopment by its new owner.”
A message to owner Dean Yimoyines on Friday was not returned.
At least part of the controversy appears to involve the divide between standard zoning rules, which often tightly regulate business operations, and the state’s and town’s desire to encourage the preservation of agricultural property. Middlebury’s zoning rules, for instance, put no restriction on farming operating in residential zones. State regulations to promote agritourism actively encourage farms to sell beer, wine, liquor or hard cider they produce.
The cafe permit request is being evaluated this spring by the state liquor control commission, while the town’s planning and zoning commission has set a June 5 public hearing on Tranquillity’s proposal to establish a gravel parking lot for more than 90 cars.
The dispute between Yimoyines and neighbors led to an uncommonly sharp exchange last month between his attorney, David Sherwood, and Planning and Zoning Commission chairman Terry Smith.
Sherwood noted that Tranquillity is only seeking commission approval for a soil erosion plan for the parking lot work, and said no site plan or public hearing is necessary under Middlebury’s regulations. Smith pressed repeatedly for more details about what Tranquillity intends to do once it has that extra parking available and heatedly told Sherwood that he has full authority to convene a hearing.
“I’ve been asking for a site plan for over a year and I’ve just been stonewalled,” Smith told him. “I want it by next month.”
When Sherwood said Tranquillity isn’t required to provide one, a sharp back-and-forth followed over Smith’s authority to call for that information.
“I want details including buffers. If we don’t get it, I’m not approving this. I’ll tell you right now,” Smith shot back.
When Smith said he’ll convene a June 5 hearing to get public opinion, Sherwood said regulations allow hearings only in limited cases — and Tranquillity’s soil erosion proposal isn’t one of them. He said he’d take exception to the commission holding a hearing.
“You can take exception, I’m going to hold it. You want to appeal our decision, that’s fine,” Smith said.
When another commissioner asked what activities have been conducted at the winery over the past year, Sherwood replied that he didn’t know. When pressed why not, Sherwood said he doesn’t live in Middlebury.
“But you’re representing them,” the commissioner said.
Sherwood agreed to have information at the June meeting on what activities are conducted at Tranquillity.
Preservationists are complaining that Tranquillity’s plan would harm the open views in that part of town.
“The property, under a conservation easement since 1986 to preserve views and its history of agriculture, is one of the most important historical assets of the town of Middlebury. The 300-acre site set on a stunning view of Lake Quassapaug, was designed by Charles Eliot, one of the most prominent protégés of Frederick Law
Olmsted, the world-famous landscape architect who designed New York’s Central Park.”
It contends the expansion plan would contradict the terms of the conservation easement held by the local historical society.