Site plans for a building at The Farm at Hawks Landing.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen
EAST LONGMEADOW — After two public hearings and comments by several concerned neighbors, the East Longmeadow Planning Board approved a plan to construct a building to sell produce and act as an event venue at The Farm at Hawks Landing.
The property at 896 Somers Rd., which had been a working farm in the past, became a dilapidated dumping ground in recent years.
In 2024, three area business owners — William Collins, Thomas Kaye and Jason Tsitso — purchased the property and renamed it Farm at Hawks Landing. The owners’ plan was to operate a working farm, sell some produce while using some of it in their other businesses, and offer educational and agrotourism opportunities.
At the public hearings on both July 1 and July 15, Planning Board Chair Russell Denver took time to explain that issue before the Planning Board was the site plan for the proposed building and not whether the business would be a working farm. Neighbors have theorized that The Farm at Hawks Landing will be a restaurant, similar to Collins’ Center Square Grill, or a brewery like One Way Brewing, which is owned by Tsitso and Kaye. Neither is planned for the site.
Despite this, Meadowbrook Farm owner John Burney said the property will not fall under provisions in state law that exempts agricultural land from certain zoning restrictions. He doubted that the farm would make the required 25% of its summer month-income from selling its produce, which, so far, includes pumpkins and corn. Denver said the building department would make the decision on whether the land was agricultural. He pointed out that the property owners were putting substantial money into the project and if the building department denied the usage, “the cost is on them.”
At the first public hearing, abutters along Ainslie Drive expressed concern about the distance between the building and their properties, an access road running next to the building, dust from the gravel parking area, the location of the on-site apiary and landscaping barriers. The thing they were most concerned about, however, is the number of people who will be using the building as an event venue and how it will affect traffic.
Seth Stratton of Fitzgerald Law, who represented the property owners, said the building’s occupancy is 176 people. Planning Board member Robert Tirrell noted there were parking spaces for 61 vehicles. If there are two people per vehicle, totaling 122 people, he asked, “where do the other vehicles go?” While Stratton said an estimate of three people per vehicle had been used, Tsitso said there is a field on the site that can accommodate overflow parking.
A resident said he was concerned that the traffic study prepared by the transportation engineering firm Bowman Consulting did not consider the speed limit and line of sight. Denver said that the petitioner’s traffic mitigation proposal outlines a plan to work with the Police Department to limit traffic issues if they host a large event. The resident then asked if such events would have amplified music. Planning and Community Development Director Rob Watchilla said that issue would be covered by the Town Council, which is the granting authority for one-day entertainment licenses.
Addressing Ainslie Drive residents’ worries about people parking along their street, Denver said the Planning Board can request the Town Council to have temporary no parking signs installed when an event takes place.
During the first hearing, Denver asked if the property owners would consider moving the building away from the neighbors by about 10 feet. When he followed up on that suggestion at the July 15 meeting, landscape architect Rob Levesque of R Levesque Associates said the location had not changed. He explained that the land to the east of the site slopes downward with a substantial grade change. Moving the structure would require the slab it will sit on to overhang the drop off, and concrete would need to be brought in to support the building.
Tsitso also noted that the building sits in what was the back yard of a house that had been on the property when it was purchased.
Levesque said the access road was changed in an effort to work with the abutters. The original plans had called for the road to use an existing curb cut. By creating a new curb cut and curving the road around the side of the building, the new plans add 80 feet between the road and the abutting properties. The building will be at least 142 feet from the neighbors to the side and rear of the property. Watchilla said the side setback for the zone was 15 feet.
To manage another potential issue cited by abutters, Levesque said gravel dust can be mitigated by using a gravel additive that allows water to pass through the surface but keeps the rocks from kicking up. He also said the gravel can be striped to mark accessible space and required markings.
Ainslie Drive resident John Dalton, whose son had an allergic reaction after a bee sting, said he had seen “hundreds of bees” “going from the hive to our pool.” He was also concerned the beehive would attract bears and asked for the apiary to be moved. Stratton pointed out that the apiary is on the part of the property that is located in Hampden and therefore not under the Planning Board’s authority.
The Planning Board recessed the hearing so abutters could take a closer look at plans for the project. Collins, Kaye and Tsitso answered questions and spoke with the neighbors for about 10 minutes. When the hearing continued, there were no other comments or questions related to the site plan.
While approving the site plan, the Planning Board implemented several conditions, including no parking on Somers Road; limited hours for trash pickup; entrance, exit and directional signs in the parking area; establishment of a soil conservation plan if the agricultural crops require it; Planning Board approval of traffic mitigation plan changes and a post-construction site visit by the Planning Board.
Denver said the residents had raised “valid concerns” and reiterated that the property still had to receive approval that it was being used for agricultural purposes. He said the three owners also own responsible businesses in the area and applauded them for cleaning up the site. “It looks nice. Hopefully, it will be nice,” he said.
