Giant Farm-to-Table Restaurant Rejected by Westford Voters

Photo: Google Streetview image of property.

WESTFORD, MA - Westford voters had the opportunity to allow an enormous farm-to-table restaurant to open in town but decided against it.

Residents of the town voted against amending Agricultural Preservation Restrictions on a Boston Road property at the annual town meeting Saturday. The article was rejected by a 101-to-106 vote, officials said.

Passing the article would have meant the land owner could build a 4,000-square-foot restaurant with 180 seats and 137 parking spaces, Wicked Local reported. The plans reportedly included an orchard and crops that would have been used in the kitchen.

Residents were concerned the restaurant would cause traffic and excess noise, the Lowell Sun reported. It was also mentioned that the restaurant was a "marketing ploy" because it would not actually be able to source all of its produce from the land, according to the Lowell Sun.

Other residents were more in favor of the idea.

"Certainly I think everybody agrees that the present state of that property is deplorable," resident Tom Peacock said, according to the Lowell Sun. "A restaurant of this size and quantity would certainly generate more than $1 million in taxes and sales in one year."

Property owner and aspiring restaurateur Ebrahim “Ebi” Masalehdanstill might have the opportunity to present a new proposal to the town in the future, the Lowell Sun reported.

“My dream for that property… is to make it beautiful,” Masalehdan said in a previous meeting, according to Wicked Local. “I talked to my engineers… to come up with a design that would suit the gateway of Westford.”

Other highlights from the meeting include:

• Voters rejected the adoption of the World Flag, which was designed in Westford as an acknowledgment that all living beings share the same planet and the responsibilities that come along with that principle, officials said.
• Asphalt manufacturing plants were banned from entering the town, officials said.
• Polystyrene containers were restricted and can no longer be used to transport ready-to-consume foods, officials said.

Should Westford voters have rejected the proposal to ament Agricultural Preservation Restrictions on the property? Let us know what you think in the comments below.