Chester DRB hears application for Goldthwaite Road wedding venue Question arises about whether use is permitted for property

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2023 Telegraph Publishing LLC

Several neighbors of 76 Goldthwaite Road in Chester attended Monday night’s Development Review Board meeting to register their concerns about an application to put a “wedding venue.” But how the application got to the board in the first place would be a good question.

The application for a conditional use permit by David Doucette of Las Vegas asks for approval for hosting up to 20 “weddings/receptions” per year for up to 125 guests each. The plan would be to use the existing barn for receptions and construct a parking area for 60 vehicles. Doucette also noted that he would not want to use the septic system for the existing house but would instead bring in restroom trailers.

Doucette said he had roots in the area, having been born in Brattleboro, grown up in New Hampshire and hiked the Long Trail in Vermont.

The neighbors who appeared before the board were concerned about noise — especially amplified music — traffic, sight lines and views as well as confusion leading to vendors and guests ending up on their property.

But it was Gavin McMorrow’s question about whether the use fit the district that may be the most consequential. McMorrow correctly pointed out that “wedding venue” is not among the uses for which a conditional use permit may be issued in the Residential 120 district.

Zoning Administrator Preston Bristow agreed, but said that the board had deemed it an “accessory use” for a “tourist lodging” which is allowed in R-120 with an approved conditional use permit. He pointed to the Williams River Farm on Peck Road and the former Town Farm Inn on Route 10 as properties that either are now or have been tourist lodgings in the past and have also hosted weddings. Bristow said that these uses “run with the land.” That means that subsequent owners will have the right to those uses in the future.

But the Goldthwaite property does not have a permit as a tourist lodging. Asked if the house might be rented out to people from the wedding, Doucette did not rule that out but also said that it is his house.

On Tuesday, Bristow told The Telegraph that he had understood that the house could be rented as part of the wedding and was surprised to hear Doucette say otherwise. Noting that Doucette had not applied for a permit as a tourist lodging and that hosting weddings was only allowed as an accessory to that use, The Telegraph asked how the application could move forward.

“That will be up to the board to work out,” said Bristow.

The DRB closed the hearing and will be deliberating on the matter in the coming days.

To see the current Unified Development Bylaws, which spell out zoning regulations, click here. Permitted and conditional uses for the R-120 district are on Page 20.