On Saturday, the Wilton Zoning Board toured a Burns Hill Road property as part of a request to run a small homestead business from the site.
Property owner Stephanie Lingley Kirsch is seeking a special exception to allow a home-based farmstead business as a home occupation and variances to allow agricultural uses in a residential zone and to reduce the setback for a farmstand. Her plan includes producing and packaging canned goods, infused oils, baked goods and crafts such as candles and leather journals, to be sold on-site, as well as growing herbs, vegetables and fruit and keeping small animals such as chickens.
The property at 68 Burns Hill Road lies in a residential district where agricultural uses, including livestock, are not allowed.
During a Sept. 9 hearing, Kirsch told the board she would sell goods from a pre-fabricated shed near the front of the lot and also vend at fairs and markets. Although state cottage food laws allow her to use her home kitchen for baked goods, she said she intends to convert part of her unfinished basement into a prep area that would not require plumbing.
On Saturday, board members viewed a 9-by-9-foot staked area proposed for the farmstand, which would be accessible only from Burns Hill Road due to a steep drop-off behind it. They also walked the backyard, where Kirsch has six small garden beds she plans to use to grow crops, and where she proposes housing small animals—potentially chickens, rabbits or sheep. She previously said she would start with a small coop of fewer than 100 square feet and four hens, with no rooster.
The board reviewed existing screening, including a stand of wildflowers taller than six feet on one side of the lot and tree cover on another, and heard a neighbor’s comments about prevailing wind direction. At the Sept. 9 hearing, neighbors raised concerns about traffic and potential parking or turnarounds on Seagroves Road, which borders the property, and about odors if larger animals are introduced.
The board ended the site walk and continued the hearing to Oct. 14 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 603-924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on X @AshleySaariMLT.