The Planning & Zoning Commission has closed its public hearing on the Manor House application for modifications to its special permit and site plan and will hold deliberations at its next regular meeting on April 8.
On the agenda last Tuesday was additional information requested by the Commission regarding details of the Manor House’s proposed operations and more information from both those in favor of and those opposed to the plan.
The Manor House team underscored that proposed usage remained within the scope of the 1996 special permit that allowed events for up to 150 people and up to 25 rooms. Daytime usage is between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.
At current capacity of eight rooms, 16 overnight guests are permitted by fire code, as are 44 people dining and a maximum of 50 guests on the main floor at one time. In addition, the applicant stated that no more than 50 people will use the recreational facility area at one time.
For more details, click here to see the Final Set of Supplemental Materials submitted by the applicant on March 19.
In the second portion of the hearing, Norfolk citizens spoke in favor of and in opposition to the project. Those who favored the project spoke of job and community growth associated with inns elsewhere in Litchfield County. Those who opposed it cited concerns about traffic and noise, the scale of the project and Norfolk’s rural character.
After closing the hearing, the Commission decided to begin deliberations at its next meeting on April 8. The public may attend to observe deliberations but will not be allowed to comment.
With the hearing closed, under state statute the Commission has 65 days, or until May 29, to reach its decision. In addition, however, the statute allows for 65 days of extension to be used at any time during the special permit application review process provided that the applicant consents. To date, 35 of those days have been used to extend the public hearing timeline, so an additional 30 days are potentially available for extending the decision timeline. If that time were used, the commission would have to make its decision by June 28.