You Will Need Four Acres To Have Horses In The Village Of Essex

ESSEX, CT — At the October 5th Essex Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, the Commission approved a motion to allow horses in residential, village zoned properties, which are four acres, or more, in the town of Essex, which includes Centerbrook and Ivoryton.

In late summer, civil engineer Tom Metcalf, filed an original request to the town to amend a section of the Zoning Regulations,("PZC Application 21-6 Text Amendment to Section 60A.3(E) of the Zoning Regulations to allow the keeping of horses in a Village Residence (VR) District with minimum 3 (three) acre land size and maximum number of horses restrictions. (Agent: Thomas Metcalf, P.E. L.S.; Applicant: Mary Cunliffe Lewis and Ian Carr Lewis (Received July 6, 2021)".

Metcalf explained at past Commission meetings, that his intent was to purchase approximately three acres from the Lewis's, to build a dwelling and keep two horses.

The Lewis', who live at 2 Main Street, in Ivoryton, have a property with 10.29 acres, which has, "an historical farm use associated with it," according to an e-mail regarding the proposed text amendment sent to the Chairman of the Essex PZC, Russell Smith from Metcalf.

Metcalf once again presented on behalf of the applicants at the October 5th, Commission meeting and he addressed concerns brought up at past meetings.

He increased the minimum acreage from three acres (originally proposed) to four acres and increased setbacks for agricultural buildings and required submission of a zoning permit to provide a formal record of use and to create some review accountability.

In addition, he also submitted a petition, at the October 5th meeting, in favor of the proposal, which was signed by every abutting property owner to the Main Street, Ivoryton property.

The revised proposal was discussed at the public hearing.

Gary Dayharsh stated that generally speaking, he did not agree with having livestock in residential village areas, but there were certainly exceptions on larger lots and the potential lot in question was one of them.

A motion was made to approve the application as revised by the applicant as it would provide for maintenance of some open space, encourage participation by neighbors in the review process and retain minimum acreage for the proposed use.

The motion carried 4-2 and it will be effective as of October 29th.

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