Rob Levesque of R Levesque Associates presents plans for a building at The Farm at Hawks Landing.
Reminder Publishing photo by Sarah Heinonen
EAST LONGMEADOW — A proposed building at 896 Somers Rd. brought about 40 residents to the East Longmeadow Planning Board meeting on July 1.
The former State Line Farm, at the intersection of East Longmeadow, Hampden and Somers, had been neglected and became a dumping ground. It was purchased in 2024 by Bill Collins, Jason Tsitso, Tom Kaye and Zach Schwartz, and rebranded as The Farm at Hawks Landing.
Seth Stratton of Fitzgerald Law represented the owners at the Planning Board meeting and explained that the property is being reestablished as a working farm. The 4,837-square-foot building planned for the site would serve as a space to sell the produce, spices and honey produced on the farm and offer a space to be rented for business meetings and weddings. He emphasized the building will not be a restaurant nor a brewery, as had been speculated on by residents.
Collins, who has owned and operated East Longmeadow eatery Center Square Grill for 11 years, said the farm was purchased to allow for farm-to-table synergy with his restaurant and One-Way Brewing, which is owned by Tsitso and Kaye. Some produce will be donated to local food pantries, he said. They are also interested in pursuing educational opportunities and agrotourism. As an agricultural property, Stratton said, it falls under the Dover Amendment, a state law that exempts certain types of property from some local zoning restrictions.
Rob Levesque of the landscape architectural firm R Levesque Associates said the building project would utilize the existing curb cuts for the entrance and exit. The parking area would accommodate 61 vehicles, including accessible spaces. A third curb cut would be used for commercial vehicle access to the building. A hard-packed gravel drive surface is called for in the plans.
The building would be near the northwest corner of the property, near the street and abutting properties on Ainslie Drive. With a footprint of 84 feet by 76 feet, it was designed to include a small patio and entrance at the front of the building and a larger, rounded patio area at the rear, facing away from the street and abutters. Levesque said an orchard would be planted between the building and the first two properties on Ainslie Drive. A row of fruit trees and arborvitae would separate the remainder of the abutters from the farm.
Planning Board Chair Russell Denver asked why the building was set in the corner of the irregularly shaped property, rather than closer to the Hampden line. Planning and Community Development Director Robert Watchilla explained that there is a 200-foot buffer around the Scantic River, along the Hampden line. Further, a pond at the center of the property requires a 100-foot buffer to be maintained. Levesque said that if the owners wanted to infringe on the buffers, they would have to prove to the Conservation Commission that there was no other viable location. Therefore, the northwest corner was the “most logical” place for the building, he said. He noted that it is the same location where a dilapidated house sat until it was demolished by the new owners.
A traffic study by transportation engineers Bowman Consulting estimated that the agricultural use of the site and the associated building would generate 308 vehicles in and out of the property on weekdays and 610 trips on weekends. He described the impact on morning weekday traffic as “minimal,” with a 6% or less increase in Somers Road traffic.
At the urging of Watchilla, a traffic management study was submitted that sought to mitigate the impact of possible, but unlikely instances of heavy traffic. These included an overflow parking area, crowd management and notifying the Police and Fire departments, and abutters. Collins said the traffic management plan was not expected to be needed as the “significant events” requiring it were outside the scope of normal operations. Denver noted that the owners would need to receive a one-day liquor license from the town for any events that included alcohol.
Despite these assurances, abutters expressed concerns about large crowds, the proximity of the building to their properties, traffic and dust from the gravel lot.
“I don’t appreciate how close that building is to my property,” said Lisa Adam, adding that the proposed project was “quite distressing.” She said that she previously spoke to the owners and was assured that the building would be further from her house. Joel Adam said they were told there would be three rows of apple trees between the building and the property line. Levesque explained that the trees were represented on the plan as a single row of large trees for ease of viewing, but that multiple rows were planned.
A resident said the traffic management plan “sounds like stuff you’d plan for the Big E.” He theorized that the owners were planning significant events to recoup the cost of purchasing the farm. Denver noted that if the business fails, “it’s on [the owners’] dime.” The resident asked, “What would we be left with?” To which Denver responded, “An improved property.”
Ralph Page, who sold arborvitae to the property’s owners, pointed out that nearby Meadowbrook Farm runs a successful business as a working farm. He also said gravel driveways are common on such properties. He also said that residential homes often have driveways 60 feet from their neighbors without issue. Finally, he said, if the owners use the property for a purpose outside of the stated use, the zoning enforcement officer is charged with intervening.
Ainslie Drive resident John Dalton acknowledged the work the owners have undertaken to clean up the property, but said his son was stung by a bee from the apiary near their property line and asked that it be moved farther away. He also worried that, until the arborvitae grows enough to create a more solid boundary, children visiting the farm will wander into his back yard and potentially fall into his pool. Linda Dalton urged the owners to erect a “stable, permanent” boundary between the properties.
Like the Daltons, Mark Guthrie was also concerned with privacy and trespassing. He said people running from police had previously cut from the farm into his backyard. Denver said the Planning Board can require the height and width of landscaping, as well as lighting specifications.
Both Tsitso and Collins said they wanted to be good neighbors and indicated they were open to adjusting the landscaping to address the abutters’ concerns.
Watchilla suggested the Planning Board make directional markings in the parking area requirement, so traffic flows in only one direction. He also advised the board to require an examination of the intersection of Somers Road and Ainslie Drive to be added to the traffic study.
Denver requested that Levesque provide more detailed plans and photos of the type of landscape barriers that would be planted at the Planning Board’s July 15 meeting. “We can’t visualize that unless we see it,” he said. He also suggested that the building could be moved 10 to 15 feet closer to the pond without running into the conservation buffer. Finally, he asked for a more specific and detailed traffic management plan, defining such terms as “significant event.” Stratton responded, “It’s a requested plan we’ve been asked to provide for something that we don’t think is going to happen.” Watchilla said he would work with Stratton before the next meeting to identify the areas that needed fleshing out.
