CUMBERLAND – During upcoming fall events, parking on the roads around Phantom Farms off Diamond Hill Road will be restricted to one side of the street to ensure that emergency vehicles can get through.
Councilor Jodi Harrington-Sweet indicated at the Aug. 19 council meeting that she expects the council will pass an ordinance restricting parking to one side at its September meeting. Responding to a resident asking if the signs will be up in time Fall Fest weekends at the farm, she said even if they aren’t in place, temporary signage will be installed.
Residents have complained about difficulty getting out of their driveways due to the crowding of vehicles in the residential neighborhood when the popular farm holds events. One neighbor said she wasn’t able to get out of her driveway last year, saying there were far more vehicles per day than the 100 in attendance stated on the event application. She said the situation was improved during a recent vendor event when Phantom Farms closed the gate.
Harrington-Sweet said they want to see a better situation this year, and they don’t want to see families walking up Diamond Hill Road either, especially as the town limits parking on those side streets around the farm.
Jordan Dalpe, new event director for Phantom Farms and Phantom Brewing, said they were able to test an alternate parking plan by funneling visitors to a certain area of the property during a recent vendor fair, and they’re contemplating doing that again. She said moving 100 cars to that area significantly alleviated pressure on the side roads, with no neighbor complaints to her knowledge. She said they felt that was a good jumpstart to being kinder to their neighbors.
Harrington-Sweet also asked about a police detail, saying the number of 100 on the license doesn’t seem realistic. Dalpe said they averaged about 98 tickets sold per day, but they only charged for children, so that number didn’t include full families. She said there were also days with more than 98 tickets sold.
Harrington-Sweet said it’s important that the farm succeeds, but she also wants people to be safe. She asked if they would be willing to connect with the Police Department to ask them to drive by and make sure if everything is OK. Dalpe said they would be willing to pay for a police detail or any other measures desired.
Asked by Harrington-Sweet for an estimate on actual number of visitors per day, and Dalpe said she would check on that. She said making adjustments to the hayride schedule is also a priority for this year.
Harrington-Sweet said the pending new parking ordinance to address neighborhood concerns will still allow parking on side roads on both sides of the farm, just not on both sides of each roadway.
Councilor Bob Shaw noted that the Fall Fest will not have dozens of vendors seen at other types of events, so that will help the parking situation somewhat.
The council’s Board of License Commissioners approved special event entertainment licenses for Fall Fest events at Phantom Farms Sept. 12-13, Sept. 19-20, Sept. 27, Oct. 3-4, Oct. 10-11, Oct. 17-18, and Oct. 24-25., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Phantom Farms, 2920 Diamond Hill Road.
Council President Mike Kinch had asked if there were any dates councilors would like to treat as separate, and Councilor Lisa Beaulieu said she wanted to pull out Sept. 26 and say no to that date. That is the same day as Franklin Farm will hold its annual fall festival said Beaulieu, and due to that farm’s close proximity to Phantom Farms and the fact that the Franklin Farm event is a full-volunteer one and the event is meant to promote the culture within the farming community of Cumberland, she was opposed to the license for that day. (note: she said Sept. 19, but the comments were actually about Sept. 26)
Beaulieu, whose husband Rick is on the board at Franklin Farm, said she felt differently about weekend event licenses for Adams Farm, as it is not as close to Franklin Farm.
Kinch asked if there was any way they could set aside that one date for to accommodate their “neighbor farm,” and Dalpe said they just wouldn’t inflate the bounce houses and do the hayrides for the children if that was the decision. Kinch said that was very nice of them.
The vote to say no to the Sept. 19 date was 6-1, with Councilor Peter Bradley opposed.
That decision prompted online criticism from some residents and businesspeople, who say the town shouldn’t be favoring one entity over the interests of a local business.
Kinch told The Local Insider Thursday that he was under the impression at that meeting that representatives from the two farms had talked things out and were in agreement that they wouldn’t hold events at the same time. He said there are now conversations happening about how the two can hold their events simultaneously, and the council will look at the denied license again at its next meeting.
