Minutes
TOWN OF GRANBY
GRANBY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
Town Hall Meeting Room
Monday, November 10, 2008
7:00 P.M.
Present: Bud Murtha, Chairman, Martin Schwager, Edward Guarco, Robert Rome, John Krug, Ken Kuhl and Fran Armentano, Director of Community Development.
The meeting opened at 7:05 pm.
The meeting began with a presentation on the proposed Lost Acres Road Winery by Michelle Niedermeyer and Kevin Riggott. Michelle and Kevin have made an application to the Granby Planning and Zoning Commission for a special permit for a farm store and the sale of wine under a farm winery liquor permit for property located at 84 Lost Acres Road. They presented a booklet describing their plans for the Lost Acres Vineyard and winery. They hope to produce 1000 cases of wine per year and will start with the planting of 5 acres of grapevines. They presented a site plan of the winery barn, containing 2000 square feet. The site plan also showed a proposed home and barn. The Commission members asked a variety of questions. Hours of operation were discussed along with parking, traffic and
deliveries. The coordination and cooperation with other Granby farmers was also discussed. The Commission was pleased with the presentation and delighted by the prospect of having a winery in town.
On an motion by Edward Guarco and seconded by Martin Schwager, the Commission voted to send a letter to the Planning and Zoning Commission in support of an application for a special permit for a farm store and the sale of wine under a farm winery liquor permit for property located at 84 Lost Acres Road.
The Commission spent the entire time working on the Granby Center Zone and discussing the public workshop that was held on July 7, 2008 at 7:00 pm in the Granby Senior Center.
The Commission members discussed new Planning and Zoning Commission applications and available commercial property. They discussed the proposed use of the former video Galaxy space at 9 Bank Street, as a package store. They further discussed the availability of existing space in the Granby Center and throughout town. At present there are only a couple of spaces available in the Granby Center area, a few commercial spaces along Route 10 and none on Mill Pond Drive.
The Commission discussed the Center Zoning Plan. They reviewed new maps and a Granby Historic District overlay map. They reviewed new wording. The members were very pleased with the maps and wording. Fran will finalize the materials and e-mail them to the members. The members would like to get the proposal out on the web site so that the residents of Granby can review it. Fran will work on making the materials available to the public. The Commission hopes to present the final draft to the Planning and Zoning Commission in late January or early February.
John Krug provided the Commission with an update on the status of the Simsbury Airport. A final report has been prepared. No decision has been made on the matter. An additional report may be necessary in order to clarify the costs and benefits of preserving the airport. The final decision will be solely the Town of Simsbury’s. Granby has been invited to participate in the discussions as the airport serves Simsbury and the surrounding towns.
The meeting closed at 8:52.
Fran Armentano
Acting Recording Secretary
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