GLASTONBURY — The owners of Rose's Berry Farm are asking town officials to reconsider their request to lease nearby land, saying that without the necessary utilities and infrastructure, the business will not survive.
When the previous owner of the farm, Sandra Rose, chose to retire in 2022, 21 acres at 280-300 Matson Hill Road were sold to the Gondek family, while 23.18 acres at 297 Matson Hill Road were sold to the town for $1.09 million in May 2023.
The Gondeks run Rose's Berry Farm as a pick-your-own farm, with crops that include blueberries, peaches, apples, and pears.
In a Facebook post, Sandy Gondek said that she originally had a contract with Rose to purchase the entire farm, but the town exercised its right to first purchase, deciding instead to initially offer short-term leases of its land to other farmers.
When the Gondeks submitted a request to lease the town-owned land last year, they were met with rejection. Instead, six acres were leased to BHO Enterprises LLC and 17 acres were leased to Littel Acres Farm Market LLC.
"Those tenants have extensive experience farming land in Glastonbury," Town Manager Jonathan Luiz said.
With the short-team leases ending in December, Luiz said, the Town Council will decide this month whether to extend those leases for 15 years.
Sandy Gondek said that the land they own does not have the proper infrastructure to sustain the business, which the town-owned land has.
"We have been denied access to the infrastructure used for decades to successfully farm Rose's, including electricity, running water, farm buildings to allow for fruit sorting, refrigeration, freezers, structures for farm equipment, repair and maintenance, and access to the pond with an existing irrigation system running from Matson Hill Road to our crops," she wrote on Facebook.
During a Town Council meeting on Tuesday, Town Council member Deborah Carroll read statements from members of the Gondek family.
"A hardship was created," Sandy Gondek's statement read. "We were cut off from the irrigation system running to our crops. We were denied any use of the multiple farm structures on the farm property. We had no utilities."
Her husband, Paul Gondek, wrote that the family intends to keep the parcel as farmland and not develop it, and asked the town to work with his family to save their farm.
"The parcel that the town purchased was the parcel with the infrastructure to run the farm. Without the infrastructure, chances are the farm will fail," he wrote. "In case of the farm failing, we would be forced to sell the 21 acres of farmland."
"We not only want to preserve this land, but to keep the farm running as we did this past year," their daughter, Brittney Gondek, wrote. "The town has refused to help us in our many attempts. A working farm such as Rose's Berry Farm is being mistreated, and kept from their resources."
Brittney Gondek asked why there isn't a deal for all three farmers who want the property and urged the council to "promote running farms, sustainability, and inclusion."
The Town Council will hold a public hearing to discuss extending the leases on Jan. 23 at 8 p.m. at Town Hall.