Westport in Brief!
EverythingWestport.com
Tuesday, October 3, 2017
Quick Article Index . . .
President
Trump’s campaign slogan last year was “make American Great again.”
Caron Rocha is
taking her Duck Derby Champion “Panda” to Dinner in Hawaii!
Weddings at Weatherlow OKed by Westport zoning board.
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President
Trump’s campaign slogan last year was “make American Great again.” Beach Committee members vow to make
East Beach great again for Westport residents. EverythingWestport.com Tuesday,
October 3, 2017 Photos |
EverythingWestport.com
Special Correspondent to EverythingWestport.com WESTPORT -- President Trump’s campaign slogan last year was “make
American Great again.” It appears the Beach Committee has applied that slogan to a small part
of America and Westport -- East Beach. Committee members on Monday officially unraveled a plan to make that
rocky-terrain beach great again for Westport residents. The committee, led by Sean Leach, would like to turn that town-owned
beach into a destination that is perhaps second only to the popular Cherry
& Webb Beach. Leach in August pitched his plan to the Beach Committee, refined it,
and pitched it again to selectmen. Selectmen had some questions about some of the logistics, such as a
potential land swap with a private owner on Horseneck Road, but for the most
part on Monday board members applauded the effort and concept. Leach and Committee Chairman Tim St. Michel have said that only Cherry
& Webb Beach is used often by residents during the summer months.
Insert:
Click on image to enlarge. Leach showed a map of his concept, which would move Horseneck Road to
alleviate speeding traffic that turn the corner
toward East Beach. The concept would come with parking areas and possibly Mobi mats that would allow those with mobility issues to
access the beach. So far, only the Knubble Beach is handicap accessible, but
Beach Avenue issues have often complicated that distinction. Leach conceded that the land trade necessary would give waterfront
property to a town resident, but the deal would not take away accessible
public waterfront. “We have been looking to do something for years and we will start
looking for public input and would like to create a facility that can take
some of the spillover from Cherry & Webb on those hot weekends,” Leach
said on Monday. “It will be a much safer and much nicer beach.” Leach and St. Michel also expressed interest in gating off the parking
area, as the Beach Committee does with Cherry & Webb Beach. Leach said at
Monday’s meeting and in August that East Beach has been subjected to
vandalism and noisy, late-night motorists. St. Michel has noted that the committee sells more than 3,000 beach
passes every year, but
the town only has around 150 parking spaces. St. Michel also
noted that Cherry & Webb beach-goers walk a quarter-mile to the beach.
East Beach access would be much more accessible for people. Leach noted on Monday that the committee is still in the infancy
stages of planning, and would likely seek funding from the town’s Community Preservation
Act funds, Beach Committee funds, as well as Federal Emergency Management
Agency flood zone funds. That stage would be preceded by public hearings. The committee over the past two years has made the beaches in town
more family friendly, with benches and a Port-A-John at Cherry & Webb
Beach, as well as lighting and a picnic table at the children's section of
the beach, near the yacht club property. The Knubble Beach also had Mobi mats at one
point, allowing wheelchair access to the shoreline. Caron
Rocha is taking her Duck Derby Champion “Panda” to Dinner in Hawaii! EverythingWestport.com Saturday, October 7, 2017 Photos courtesy of Allens Pond Sanctuary SOUTH DARTMOUTH, MA — Caron Rocha adopted “Panda”, an adorable and
capable yellow rubber racer along with 12 other ducks Inset:
Fleet-webbed “Panda” crosses the finish line ahead of 5000-plus competitors
to win the 14th annual Running of the Ducks! With the event in its 14th year, it’s always interesting to find out
where the winner decides to travel, and this is the second trip to
Hawaii. Previous destinations also include India, Aruba, Zambia, New
Zealand, Tanzania, China, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, France (twice)
and Ecuador. Over $50,000 was raised at the event and 100% of the funds directly
support the work done at the Allens Pond wildlife
sanctuary; ecological management, land protection and stewardship and
environmental education for all ages. On choosing her destination, Caron remarked: “Thank you for the
amazing opportunity to travel anywhere in the world for dinner! We
would like to include as many family members as possible on our great
adventure so we have chosen to travel to Hawaii. We hope to spend our
trip exploring in nature, hiking a volcano and visiting wildlife
preserves. We would love to visit a sea turtle rescue center and of
course, try some surfing. For our dinner, we are planning to go to
Morimoto Maui, owned by Iron Chef Masaharu
Morimoto. Be sure to check your mail for a Molokai coconut postcard!
Thank you again for this opportunity and for all the work you do on the Southcoast of Massachusetts.” “Thank you, Caron! We are so grateful to her for her continued
support of the sanctuary through her generosity in adopting ducks and for her
enthusiasm in planning what’s sure to be an amazing trip of a lifetime.”
responded Jen Costa, Programs Administrator for the sanctuary. “Not
only did she adopt ducks, but she volunteers with her kids at the race site
each year as a Duck Wrangler, loading the net with 5000+ racing ducks and
then helping to collect them from the site at race completion. We can’t
wait to see their trip photos and hear about their adventures in Hawaii.”
Inset: Duckies
dumped in the drink for 14th annual Running of the Ducks!” Visit www.massaudubon.org/allenspond
and adopt your ducks online anytime and be sure to take advantage of our two
15th anniversary sales promotions: a Box of 15 Quackers for $100 and/or a Flotilla of 30 Rubber Racers
for $200. Ducks make great gifts, and all of the duck income goes
straight to support the sanctuary, thanks to the generosity of our sponsors
and donors. The amazing and generous 2017 Duck Derby prize donors are too numerous
to list - 42 in all; and special thanks to the 2017 Duck Derby grand prize
sponsors - Sylvan Nursery, The Bayside Restaurant, Nye Synthetic Lubricants, Milbury and Company Real Estate Brokerage, Compton
Catering and Clambakes and Oppenheimer, as well as Buckley and Moniz, Village
Travel and Austin Limousine Service. Festival sponsors were Watchman
Waterproofing, Fiber Optic Center, Inc., and Whaling City Sound of New Bedford.
Tents generously donated by Sperry Tents and food for the event by Coastal
Roasters, Eva’s Garden and the Bayside Restaurant. It is with this combined support that makes it possible for all duck
adoption funds to go directly to Allens Pond.
Above: Duck stream headed to the gate in the 14th
annual “Running of the Ducks.” Weddings at Weatherlow OKed by Westport zoning
board. EverythingWestport.com Saturday, October 7, 2017 Photos | EverythingWestport.com
Special Correspondent to EverythingWestport.com WESTPORT -- The debate was long and passionate, and contentious on
both sides, but Wednesday's Zoning Board of Appeals hearing favored Ryan
Wagner and Weatherlow Farms. Wagner's appeal to the ZBA scored a victory
for a branch of farming known as agritourism or agri-entertainment, which allows farming operations to
expand their business practice to promote their own farming products.
Westport Vineyards & Winery on Hixbridge Road helped initiate this
practice in town, and is well known for its summer concert series. Wagner, on the other hand, will use his property for farm-to-table
events, lectures and weddings, at his three-year old farm operation at 845
Sodom Road. The ZBA overturned a ‘cease and desist’
order by Ralph Souza that prohibited Wagner from turning his flower and
cattle business into an event location that will allow weddings. At a ZBA hearing in September, Souza, the
Building Inspector/Zoning Commissioner, ruled that the wedding portion of the
proposal does not represent farming and ruled against it. Wagner filed an
appeal with the ZBA. The board then toured his
200-acre property recently and also sought help from town counsel. “It seemed the intent of this was not to be a barn but a commercial
facility. Wagner was able to bypass a litany of codes and other safety features
such as smoke detectors and a fire suppression system (sprinklers). We can't
say, 'I'm a farmer and I can do whatever I want. '" – Selectman Brain
Valcourt Jeffrey Blake, a town attorney, weighed in on Wednesday --
offering a largely non-comital view but conceding that agritourism
is a Inset: Town
Counsel Jeff Flake makes a point while Building Commissioner Ralph Souza
looks on. "This area of the law is evolving," Blake said.
"Commercial activities are permitted on a farm to an extent. ... Is
a wedding a farm-related experience?" Blake noted that Souza did not take issue with Wagner's proposal to
hold lectures and farm-to-table events, but considered weddings a more
commercial event with less of a connection to farming. Wagner's lawyer Frank Deluna harped on that
point, noting that a farm-to-table event and wedding have only one difference
-- the presence of a bride and groom or something similar. In both cases, people would be eating or using products from Wagner's
farm. "What is the difference -- a farm to table dinner and wedding is
almost the same thing," Deluna said
bluntly. “How can you say yes to Buzzards Bay
Brewery and the Westport Winery and say no to
him,'" she said. "As far as I am concerned, that is
discrimination." – Carla Samson Some speakers were a bit more emotional. Brian Valcourt, a selectman and a builder, and a very vocal opponent
of the farm’s plans, said that commercial buildings have to pass more
stringent codes. He said Wagner's barn did not have to undergo the same codes
yet it will be used for a commercial purpose. He accused the town of going down a "slippery slope." “It seemed the intent of this was not to be a barn but a commercial
facility," Valcourt said, adding that Wagner was able to bypass a litany
of codes and other safety features such as smoke detectors and a fire suppression
system (sprinklers). "We can't say, 'I'm a farmer and I can do whatever
I want." “We are making a little too much of the fact that it is (for)
weddings. It is no different than any other event or function you have. He is
proposing selling his own product and proposing getting people to his farm. You
are excluding one type of use for this cease and desist.” - Vice Chair of the
Board of Selectmen Shana Shufelt Wagner's neighbors Steve Medeiros and Susan Sherman detailed -- as
they did last month -- how they sold Wagner the barn with the APR restriction
in the hopes of maintaining the century-old farming tradition there. "It's not a barn; it's a venue," Medeiros said of Wagner's
barn. Another neighbor, Carla Samson, expressed an opposite view. “How can you say yes to Buzzards Bay Brewery and the Westport Winery
and say no to him,'" she said. "As far as I am concerned, that is
discrimination." "I am very blunt. I am very raw but I call it as I see it -- It's
none of your business (what he does with the barn)," Samson added. Wagner's bid won an ally in Selectmen Vice Chairwoman Shana Shufelt. “We are making a little too much of the fact that it is (for)
weddings. It is no different than any other event or function you have,"
she said. "He is proposing selling his own product and proposing getting
people to his farm. ... You are excluding one type of use for this cease and
desist.”
several times they were before the ZBA for a
determination on the ‘cease and desist’ order for weddings, and all the objections
to Wagner’s farm operation are red herrings. In the end, the ZBA agreed with this stance
and ZBA member Gerald Coutinho
agreed that agritourism was meant for this type of
use. “The bylaw is wide open,” Coutinho said. “It
allows any type of recreational use without restrictions,” a position
reluctantly echoed by town counsel Flake. “I just think it is what it is and the town voted to open (farming) up
to whatever you want to do -- not just weddings, it goes beyond
weddings," he said.
Above: Gerry Coutinho argues
over intent of the agritourism bylaw passed last year
at town meeting. ZBA member Donna Lambert and
Chairman Chris Graham look on. Photos | EverythingWestport.com - - - - - End - - - - - ©
2017 Community Events of Westport
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