The Planning & Zoning Commission (PZC) has for a fourth time granted continuance of a public hearing over a proposal to allow a farm in a residential zone on a 3.5 acre-plot on River Road. The next public hearing will be on Monday, Dec. 3.

At the third public hearing on Nov. 5, Ed Cassella, the attorney representing Jefferey and Patricia Cashman, informed the PZC that survey maps of the property were not yet complete. Cassella requested that the public hearing be continued so that the full maps could be shown. The PZC unanimously voted to continue the hearing.

Jeffrey Cashman is an alternate on the PZC; he has recused himself while the application is before the commission.

The Cashmans are asking the PZC to grant several waivers and excusals in considering the application, primarily releasing the requirement for plans for things like lighting, buildings, and landscaping that aren’t applicable in a project with no new lighting, landscaping, or buildings.

Opponents of the application argue that a farm on River Road will lower the values of their homes and their quality of life. Additionally, some neighbors feel that added truck traffic along the narrow road would make dangerous driving conditions.

The PZC has heard arguments on this current application since September. The PZC had asked that the Cashmans present updated soil erosion, stormwater runoff plans, and updated site plans at subsequent meetings.

The PZC also had to weigh in on part of the application in October, when the commission voted on a definition of the word “enclosure.” Cassella argued that an enclosure includes “buildings or structures that could enclose an animal,” but said a fence is not an enclosure and a fence under six feet is not regulated under the zoning regulations.

An attorney who represents Cashman neighbor Veronica Lopez argued that since there was no definition of the word “enclosure” in the zoning regulations, the dictionary definition of the word enclosure “can include a fence or a wall.”

The commission unanimously voted to “consider a fence to be an enclosure for the purposes of Zoning Regulation 28.1.4.H.”

The enclosure definition was important because there are regulations about how close an enclosure can be to an abutting property. The fence on the Cashman property ran up to the property line, allowing animals to be close to the abutting property. Since the PZC ruled that a fence is an enclosure, the enclosure must be set back from the property line.

The hearing will be continued to Monday, Dec. 3 at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall Green Room.