The historic Kent Farm at Locust Grove moved closer to being developed as the town’s next agritourism destination - thanks to a unanimous resolution by the Marlborough Town Board on Monday night, November 25.

 

Located in Milton, the Kent Farm currently houses both the popular Locust Grove Fruit Farm and Locust Grove Brewery. The farm has been in operation by the Kent Family for seven generations. Last Monday’s resolution calls for the town to sponsor a grant application under the state’s Restore New York Communities initiative. The grant would total $772,000 and would enable the restoration of a historic house at the farm – creating a new event space, tasting room for cider, and farm-to-table restaurant. 

 

The Town Board’s vote followed a well-attended public hearing, during which farm supporters spoke passionately about their vision of making the farm a hot destination along Marlborough’s growing farm trail, Meet Me In Marlborough (MMIM). 

 

Rosemary Wein of MMIM pointed out that while the farm has been the subject of previous grants this one will focus specially on the 3,200-square-foot farmhouse, which dates to pre-Revolutionary War days. The grant application will be scaled back from a previous request filed last spring, which covered more extensive work and ultimately was turned down.

 

“We pared it down and we’re just going to focus on the house for this round,” said Wein.  “We’re going to deconstruct it – which means we’re going to carefully take the house down and then use as much of the materials as we can to rebuild it. It fits in very well with our local waterfront revitalization plan and our town Comprehensive Plan. The total project estimate is $872,000 and we’re asking for $772,000 from Restore New York.”

 

Peggy Kent of O.P. Kent and Sons, the property’s owner, described the house as iconic to the Town of Marlborough. “It’s cost prohibitive to renovate something like this,” Kent said. “We want to make it a space that complements the business we have, gives us another revenue stream for the farm itself, and allows us to take a space that’s historic and make it usable.”

 

Town Supervisor Scott Corcoran said the project is a good public-private partnership. “We’re more than happy to help from the town perspective,” Corcoran said, “because it’s helping the town and its residents by restoring this historic site and building… It’s very hard to compete and stay afloat and you have to reinvent yourself and try different things if you want to keep moving forward. This is part of it. We’re hoping that this round [of grant funding] goes through.”

 

Under a second resolution, the Town Board unanimously okayed the appointment of Matthew Sanson as a part-time police officer for the town. Sanson will first attend the Ulster County Police Academy. “Without police officers and our military that protect us we wouldn’t be the country we are today,” said Corcoran. “I want to say that I know Matt personally and he is a wonderful choice. Glad to have you on board.”

 

A third resolution approved authorized Corcoran sign to a stipulation-of-settlement agreement between the Town of Marlborough and Someplace Upstate, LLC, and its owners. The agreement allows the Town Planning Board to resume processing the owners’ application for a site-plan approval and special use permit on their property. 

 

The owners purchased four lots on Mount Rose Road in 2020 with the intention of using them as a combination lodging and event venue, for weddings and other large gatherings. However, under the zoning rules for that neighborhood, a parcel must be at least 10 acres in size for an owner to use it for that purpose – and none of the parcels are that big. Last summer, the owners were issued an injunction to stop them from continuing to host such gatherings prior to obtaining the approvals and permits they need to do so.

 

The Town Board also engaged in a discussion with James Garofalo, a member of the Town of Marlborough Planning Board. Under town code, the members of that board are appointed to their posts by the Town Board – and Garofalo’s appointment is up for renewal. Corcoran described Garofalo’s visit to the Board as a courtesy and not a requirement.

 

“You give a lot back to the community, and … there aren’t many people who actually do step up and do the things that are needed for the town,” noted Corcoran. He also noted that the most recent Planning Board meeting had 15 separate projects on the agenda.