WESTFORD — Welcome to the April 7 edition of Weekend Wrap-Up. Here, we highlight the most important news you may have missed this week in Westford.
Kimball Farm announces 2024 activity opening date
Kimball Farm has announced that several activities will open for the season later this week.
The farm already opened its ice cream stand on March 29 for its 85th season. The stand is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Several activities, including its driving range and Pitch and Putt are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. according to its website.
The farm’s grill as well as other activities, including mini golf, batting cages, bumper boats, bumper cars, zipline and arcade opened on April 5, according to the farm’s Facebook page.
Additional activities such as the farm’s Animal Adventures, pony rides and caricatures are slated to open in May depending on weather conditions.
The farm’s Outback Tap Shack is slated to open in mid-May.
Friends of East Boston Camps dissolves
The Friends of East Boston Camps board has voted to disband the organization.
The board cited increased difficulty in raising funds and declining membership since its inception in 2007.
“Over the years, it has become increasingly difficult to raise finds: paid membership is down, community sponsorships are far fewer and smaller than in the past and fundraising events have not been successful enough to merit the efforts required,” the board wrote in a March 29 email obtained by WestfordCAT.
The organization has raised over $500,000 in funds for several improvements, including renovations to the dining hall, a nurse’s cabin, a director’s cabin and an Americans with Disability Act compliant bathhouse.
The organization says its remaining $50,000 will be transferred to the Conservation Commission to finish renovations on the Nashoba Lodge.
“The board extends its thanks to the founders of the Friends, to those who served on past boards, to our community sponsors and especially to the many Westford residents who have been generous supporters over the years,” the board wrote.
Student Spotlight: Recent WA grad accepted into accelerated vet school program
A recent Westford Academy graduate has been accepted into a competitive veterinary school program at Cornell University.
Kaitlin Cooper, ’22, has been accepted into an accelerated program at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
Cooper has a “lifelong goal” of becoming an exotic veterinarian, according to her LinkedIn profile.
The seven year accelerated Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program is a “highly competitive” program that requires students to maintain a minimum GPA of 3.7 during their freshman year and first semester of sophomore year.
Additionally, applicants are required to have a minimum of 108 semester credits and 400 hours of veterinary work experience before entering the program.
“She has enough credits to have finished four years of undergrad in three years thanks to getting fives on her AP exams, which says a lot about the Westford Academy curriculum,” Kaitlin’s mother, Jen Chaplain told WestfordCAT.
She added, “Our family is so proud of her and her hard work. Without the community support from great schools to local professionals who guided her and helped with letters, this would not have been possible.”
Cooper is expected to graduate in May 2029.
Public hearing opens for new firearms business bylaw
The Planning Board has opened the public hearing for an updated zoning bylaw that could regulate future firearms businesses in Westford.
The new proposal recently cleared a procedural hurdle to return to a special town meeting no later than July 27. A previous proposal failed to garner a two-thirds majority at Special Town Meeting last October.
The proposal creates 1,000 foot setbacks between firearms businesses and public schools, 500 foot setbacks between firearms businesses and a special permit requirement.
The previous proposal had a limit of four special permits that could be granted by the Planning Board. The new proposal does not place a restriction on the number of businesses that may enter Westford.
“What we’re looking to do here is separate, not stop the gun shops, separate them by 500 feet. That’s all we’re looking to do. You can buy a gun, you can own a gun in Westford, we just don’t want them congregating as it happened in the mill,” Planning Board Chair Mike Bonenfant said during an April 1 meeting.
Chief of Police Mark Chambers says he supports the new proposal.
Police chief supports measure
“My main concern was to create a buffer between firearms businesses to hamper some of the backdoor dealings that have been happening over in Littleton as well as the special permit so we could have at least have some say in the security measures,” Chambers said.
However, he acknowledged that the previous proposal did “creep in scope.”
“It did creep in scope last time, but I am in support of this bylaw, wholeheartedly. I think it’s an important measure for us to take to protect ourselves from some of the business that’s being conducted in a neighboring community,” he said.
Chambers notes that he believes a special permit is required to regulate businesses, and says he believes he does not have authority to create setbacks under current state law.
“The assertion was that the chief could essentially treat it as a special permit by denying any firearms business coming based on whatever criteria that they thought I could apply,” he said. “I do not have that legal right, I cannot apply a buffer, I cannot deny a license unless it’s under specific circumstances.”
He added, “If I do that, I am opening myself and the town up to additional liabilities and I will get sued.”
Under MGL Ch. 140 Sec. 122, the chief of police may determine eligibility and grant a license to an applicant after an investigation into their criminal history except for minors and youthful offenders, among others.
“All I can consider on that is an alien, a minor, a person who has been adjudicated, a youthful offender, what is specifically written within that law. I cannot create a buffer and I cannot limit the number of licenses,” he said.
Concerns from residents
Some residents, like Alisa Nakashian-Holsberg, questioned why the proposal does not allow for businesses on Route 40. The current proposal primarily allows businesses along Littleton Road.
“That’s the one part of town that we’ve had a business before,” she said. “Is there a reason why we may have decided to stay away from the industrial or commercial parts of Route 40?”
Assistant Town Manager of Land Use and Economic Development Jeffrey Morrissette says when the previous proposal was discussed last year, several additional setbacks were “problematic” for adding additional zoning districts.
“Once you went along Route 40, it would bring you into the Industrial A zoning district. It would also bring you into some residential districts. Even if you limit it to the Industrial A zoning districts, that would include a lot of parts of town in the village areas,” Morrissette responded.
He added, “We don’t have that competition at this time except for the schools, but at that time there were many other buffers that came into play that would be problematic for adding another zoning district.”
Others, like resident and School Committee candidate Joe Spadano, say that the frame and receiver rule, a legal loophole used to help customers obtain firearms that would otherwise be illegal to sell in Massachusetts that was exploited by some Littleton mill dealers, should be addressed at the state level.
“I am a believer that the frame and receiver rule should be a state addressed issue,” he said. “I understand why having that close proximity would encourage that, but you’re breaking the law when you’re breaking the law.”
While Chambers says he does not “necessarily disagree” with state action, he says the state has encouraged towns to enact their own rules.
Other towns
Adjacent towns, such as Littleton and Acton have passed similar zoning bylaw amendments regulating firearms businesses. Acton’s bylaw, which allows for two special permits, has received approval from the Attorney General’s office, according to the town’s Planning Division.
The public hearing will continue during the board’s May 6 meeting.
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