NORWICH — The town has granted permission to a nonprofit to build a permanent all-season structure for the Norwich Farmer’s Market on a property across Route 5 from the market’s current location.
The Norwich Development Review Board approved the nonprofit’s plans to develop about 9.5 acres of a 35-acre property it plans to purchase on Route 5 in Norwich.
The project includes constructing a 7,500-square-foot building in the shape of a large barn, an outdoor vendor area, a picnic area and parking, according to the board’s written decision, filed on Nov. 13.
The Upper Valley Agricultural Association, a nonprofit created in 2024 “with the primary intent of trying to find a permanent home for the market,” proposed the project, association President Peggy Allen said at a mid-October Development Review Board hearing. A group has been working on the $4.7 million project for about three years, she said.
The nonprofit began eyeing the vacant property for the project in summer 2024 and since then has finalized a purchase-and-sale agreement with the out-of-state landowner, Rose Z Dyke Trust in care of Judith Currier of Leesburg, Va.
Allen declined to say when the sale will close, although she did say it will be “soon” and is “on schedule.”
The new property sits across the road from the current summer market location on Route 5 in Norwich. The Norwich Farmers Market leases the current summer market site from the Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society and holds its winter market days in Tracy Hall.
In addition to creating a permanent home for the market, the project aims to reduce traffic congestion and parking issues, as well as capacity issues with the winter market at Tracy Hall. Also, the outdoor market’s current site sits below Route 5 and is prone to flooding in heavy rain.
One of the biggest challenges with the current summer market location is parking, which often fills up early in the morning and overflows into the parking lot for Fogg’s Lumber and Hardware next door.
Because the current parking lot has no lined spaces, it is difficult to say how many cars come to the weekly market, Allen said. On one Saturday in August, she counted 850 cars between when the first customers arrived to get parking before 9 a.m., and 1 p.m. when the market wraps up for the day, she told the DRB.
The market runs 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday from May through October and twice a month on Saturdays from November to April.
There are no current plans to expand market hours, but they “certainly” would not be reduced and can be adjusted in the future if that would help the market “thrive,” Allen said Monday.
The new property will have 270 parking spaces.
Under the proposed plan, the summer farmers market would be hosted mostly in the outdoor vendor area, but the building would have large garage doors that could be opened to host some vendors inside.
“If we’re going to build this kind of building it’s ridiculous for it to only be utilized for a winter market,” Allen told the DRB.
In the winter, the market would be inside the building with some vendors set up under an overhanging roof around the outside of the building.
In addition to hosting the weekly market in the building, the nonprofit plans to host related activities, classes and events and to rent the facility out for community events. This will hopefully help to cover operating costs.
Allen said she does not know what the market is currently paying in rent, but said the goal is to create an “easy transition” with similar expenses to the current market.
As a condition of the DRB approval, the facility can be rented out only for “community use,” or events that are for the town, community or school groups or “gatherings that are intended for the benefit of the public.”
The nonprofit has raised $1 million as of last week, Allen said Monday. The next phase is to raise another $3.7 million by the end of next year to cover the cost of the land, infrastructure and the building.
The nonprofit has started seeking money from local donors and is looking at other sources, including applying for a $1 million Northern Border Regional Commission catalyst grant.
As for water and sewer connections, the society has been in talks with Hartford about connecting to its municipal infrastructure.
The Hartford Selectboard unanimously approved moving forward with discussions about the water system at a July meeting, but said a feasibility study had to be completed first. At the time of the meeting, Allen said the market was prepared to move forward with the project even without Hartford’s infrastructure but that would be very challenging.
Members of the Hartford town staff are discussing with engineers for the project the work necessary to connect the building to the town’s infrastructure, Hartford Town Manager John Haverstock said Tuesday.
The Agricultural Association also has been in talks with Twin Pines Housing Trust about building affordable housing on the property, but Allen said that possibility is not part of the current proposal. If the project moves forward, the land will be subdivided and developed separately.
The DRB approval this month marks another step forward for the project. This summer, the Norwich Planning Board cleared one hurdle by adjusting the town’s zoning code to create a definition for open-air markets.
The nonprofit also has to secure an Act 250 permit from the state before it can move ahead with the development. The nonprofit has not yet filed a permit application, but it has taken some “proactive” steps such as completing a survey for indigenous artifacts on the land, Allen said. The survey found that there were no artifacts, clearing one of many steps that could have been a “brick wall” for the project.
The current plan is to break ground next spring and finish construction “before the snow falls in 2026,” but this timeline could shift depending on how fundraising goes, according to the application.