Home-based pottery studio granted special permit changes

“It was clear at the February meeting that most [Commission] members did not understand the ceramic process,” —Steve Katz, Co-owner, Alison Palmer Studios

KENT — A special permit modification for a residential pottery studio brought heightened emotions back into the Planning and Zoning Commission Zoom room on April 10 as Alison Palmer and Steve Katz, who run Alison Palmer Studios at 48 Stone Fences Lane, petitioned for expanded allowances.

Following passionate testimony from Kent residents, both in support and in opposition, P&Z approved modifications to the conditions of the permit. In-studio workshop sessions were increased from 12 days per year to a maximum of 48 days per year, and hours of operation were expanded an additional hour, closing no later than 6 p.m.

The initial special permit was approved on Feb. 13 after several rounds of contentious public hearings. The applicants, who have lived on Stone Fences Lane for 27 years and operated the studio for 16 years, were granted permission to continue running their home business, with restrictions.

The conditions of approval stipulated that the studio may operate if it limits its total number of workshop days to 12 throughout the year, with no individual workshop spanning more than three consecutive days, and restricting business hours to between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Katz presented the proposed permit modifications at the April 10 meeting. He contended that the conditions placed upon that initial permit would put the studio out of business.

“It was clear at the February meeting that most [Commission] members did not understand the ceramic process,” he said.

He requested that the studio be allowed to operate for four consecutive days with a total of 12 workshops — each lasting up to four days — throughout the year, and for business hours to run into the evening to accommodate the lengthy nature of pottery making.

The initial conditions passed in February were levied in response to concerns from neighbors that the studio had elevated traffic on the road, and that running a business does not comply with the residential nature of the private road.

In response to traffic concerns, Palmer said the studio is implementing a carpool strategy in which guests park at a specified location before the roadway and are ferried up in one vehicle.

No formal traffic study has been conducted on the street to date.

Supporters of the studio argued that resident artists and their studios are central to Kent’s cultural identity. Kent-based artist George-Ann Gowan characterized Kent as a “peaceful village teeming with talent, imagination, and warm-heartedness.”

“What a shame,” she said, “that we have to spend time defending an artist’s right to make beautiful things because someone doesn’t want to share a roadway.”

Kent Resident Michael Ward said that Palmer “is continuing a tradition and a precedent that was started by artists in this town over 100 years ago” with the founding of the Kent Art Association in 1923, one of Connecticut’s oldest art associations.

Other residents were unmoved by appeals to the town’s cultural heritage. John Gebauer, who appeared at the hearing representing the Stone Fences Association, said, “Our objection is not to art. Our objection is to commercial activity in our residential community.”

Chris Garrity, a real estate agent in town, said that the neighborhood is zoned to prevent such activity: “This is about procedure and expectations.”

Once the public comment period closed, Commission members deliberated the modification proposal, clarifying to the audience that Kent’s zoning regulations do allow home occupation businesses in residential zones.

“Please stop calling this a commercial use, it is not,” said P&Z Vice Chair Karen Casey, noting that home businesses are fundamental to Kent’s ethos as a creative community.

After some debate over the extent and implementation of the modifications, the Commission came to agree that the proposed changes support the original intent of the special permit, which was to allow the studio to operate in a way that isn’t overly disruptive to the neighborhood.

P&Z passed a motion to modify the special permit to allow 12 workshops per year, with none exceeding four consecutive days, and extending operating hours until 6 p.m.