China: Public hearing set on events center application

by Mary Grow

China Planning Board members have scheduled an Oct. 11 public hearing on Parris and Catherine Varney’s application to use the barn on their property at 701 Neck Road for weddings and other events.

The board’s initial discussion of the application at their Sept. 27 meeting drew an audience of a dozen neighbors.  Board member James Wilkens, who lives across the road from the Varney property, asked questions but abstained from voting.

Planning Board Chairman Frank Soares said two neighbors had written to the board expressing concerns about traffic and other issues.

The Varneys said they intend to rent out the barn, with hired caterers, music (either a disc jockey or a band) and a bar.  Most events would be entirely inside the barn, unless a couple wanted to exchange vows outside under a tent.  There would not be outdoor music or speakers, they said.

They intend to rent portable toilets that will be behind the barn, not visible from Neck Road. Parking will be off the road in a field behind the barn.  They seek permission to host events seven days a week and to run them until 11 p.m.

Parris Varney said the barn had been used in June for his daughter’s wedding, which he estimated brought almost 150 guests. He said he had not yet talked with the state fire marshal or local fire and rescue personnel.  Board member Toni Wall asked him to ask someone from the China Village fire department to check the property for adequate access for emergency vehicles before the Oct. 11 hearing.

Of the two other applications on the planning board’s Sept. 27 agenda, one was quickly approved and one was postponed because it was incomplete.

Edwin and Tammy Bailey received approval to replace the 50-year-old building that houses their Route 3 redemption center with a new single-story building – “just a box,” Edwin Bailey said – on the same foundation.  They do not intend any changes in the business or business hours, plumbing, landscaping or anything else planning board members saw as impacting neighbors or the environment.

Dylan Fortin’s after-the-fact application for an auto repair and towing business at his house at 427 Pleasant View Ridge Road lacked required information, so Soares returned it to him to complete before Oct. 11. Codes Officer Paul Mitnik got in touch with Fortin after receiving a complaint about an unlicensed business.  Fortin immediately came to his office and began the application process, Mitnik said.

Fortin said he had been doing auto repairs part-time for about two months and intended to apply for a permit, but “Paul got to me before I got to him.”