PORTSMOUTH — Ragged Island Brewing Co.’s proposal to establish a farm brewery on the former Van Hof Nursery property on Bristol Ferry Road includes plans for a new 9,335-square-foot …
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Ragged Island’s request to continue its hearing on a special-use permit is only one of several agenda items for Thursday’s Zoning Board of Review meeting. Here are some other matters the board is expected to take up:
Continued business
• Global Partners LP (applicant) and Alwar Equities, Inc., (owner) seek special-use permits to redevelop and expand an automobile fueling station, convenience store and café at 1568 West Main Road. The two parties are also seeking special-use permits for signage in excess of the maximum allowed under the zoning ordinance.
• Sydney Portsmouth (applicant) and JKD, LLC (owner) seek a special-use permit to construct a free-standing sign larger than the maximum area allowed under the ordinance at 8 Russo Road.
New business
• Wind Rush Properties, LLC (owner) seeks a special-use permit to develop a new retail and customer service complex containing two retail units and eight tradesman units at 2451 East Main Road (just south of Foodworks at the foot of Quaker Hill). The units would total 9,600 square feet of building floor area.
• Robin Weber (owner) seeks a special-use permit to develop a natural burial cemetery in an R-20 zone on approximately 3.2 acres in the South Point area on Prudence Island. A dimensional variance is also requested to develop the property without frontage on a public road. The proposed development currently consists of five parcels in the area of Broadway and Alden and Hornibine avenues.
• Peter Roberts (owner) of 80 Ormerod Ave. and 0 Mason Ave. seeks to appeal a notice of violation (NOV) issued by the zoning enforcement officer dated Oct. 16, 2018. The NOV was related to the location of a chicken enclosure less than 50 feet from the property boundaries in an R-10 zone.
Copies of all applications’ supporting documents may be reviewed in the Building Department on the second floor of Town Hall during normal business hours.
PORTSMOUTH — Ragged Island Brewing Co.’s proposal to establish a farm brewery on the former Van Hof Nursery property on Bristol Ferry Road includes plans for a new 9,335-square-foot building to house its brewing operations along with a seasonal taproom.
Donovan Gray Distributing LLC, which operates the brewery that’s currently located in the Portsmouth Business Park, has a purchase-and-sales agreement with the Van Hof family to acquire the 37-acre nursery property at 54 Bristol Ferry Road with the intention of preserving the land as a working farm and expanding its current operations. Ragged Island plans on growing hops, fruits and perhaps other ingredients for its beers on the property.
The Island Garden Shop and Van Hof Nursery closed last fall after more than 50 years of business.
Ragged Island cleared its first hurdle in October 2018, when the Town Council voted 4-2 to amend the zoning ordinance to define the term “farm brewery” and allow that use throughout all zoning districts through the special-use permit process.
Donovan Gray Distributing, the applicant, and Van Hof Land Associates, the owners, were originally scheduled to seek the special-use permit to develop a farm brewery, including the new building, at a Zoning Board of Review this Thursday, March 21.
On Tuesday, however, Ragged Island’s Matt Gray said the petitioners will ask to postpone the hearing to another night. Thursday’s agenda is already full and he expects the brewery hearing to be a long one, he said.
“We’re actually asking for a continuance to have a special hearing because we know neighbors will want to be heard,” said Mr. Gray, adding that “all neighbors and abutters have all been notified” about the zoning application.
The next regular zoning board meeting is on April 19, but that’s during school vacation week, and some people involved with the petition will be out of town, he said. Ideally, Ragged Island hopes to have a hearing scheduled for April 4, but that will be up to the zoning board.
All buildings retained
The brewery initially looked at ways to utilize the property’s main 1890s farmhouse, formerly used as Island Garden Shop’s retail space, for its brewing operation but soon realized that it wouldn’t work, he said.
“The new building has been part of the plan since day two,” Mr. Gray said.
The new, modern-looking building, located further down the hill from Bristol Ferry Road, “will be the home for all of our brewing operations and will have a seasonal taproom (late spring through early fall) that will allow us to connect the agricultural side of the business with the brewing side as we welcome guests to view the hop fields that will fill the southern part of the lot,” Mr. Gray said.
The main farmhouse building that has housed the Island Garden Shop will be used as a year-round taproom and retail space, he said.
Besides the main farmhouse, there are also three barns on the property. All will remain, said Mr. Gray.
“There are four buildings on the property. We’re building a fifth,” he said.
The Planning Board voted unanimously March 13 to send a favorable advisory opinion to the zoning board regarding the special-use permit.
“We’ve had no hurdles really at all so far,” Mr. Gray said, adding that he looks forward to the brewery receiving all the necessary approvals so construction can begin.
“Everything’s moving very quickly,” he said.
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