A long summer of hearings has come to an end for Jim and Holly Vogel, the owners of Wellspring Farm.

The Zoning Board of Appeals granted the Vogels a special permit for commercial use of their property on Thursday night.

After the building commissioner ruled that the operations at the therapeutic horse farm are not permitted under zoning bylaws, the Vogels appealed that decision. In July, the board denied that appeal.

The ZBA then asked the Vogels to provide additional information about parking plans, screening plans, changes in lighting on the property and hours of operation before deciding on the special permit.

After presenting that information to the board, members wanted to do a site visit to view the property and get a sense of what it’s like for abutters.

The board closed the public hearing and then went over a list of conditions before voting on the special permit.

The first condition from the board was that the permit is non-transferable. The Vogels' attorney, George Boerger, asked the board to consider alternate options, such as that the permit would be transferable to new owners as long as the new owners complied to the same conditions, or that the permit is only transferable to the Vogels' daughter and son-in-law.

While board member Kirby Gilmore didn’t have a problem with that, members Davis Sullivan and David Arancio both said they believed the permit should be non-transferable.

“I think this should stay with the Vogels, as is given the nature of this situation,” Arancio said.

Ultimately the board agreed the permit should be non-transferable.

The second condition was that all parking must be on site, and cars cannot be left idling in the parking lot in order to reduce engine noise.

Along the same lines, the third condition is that all vans, buses or similar vehicles must enter the property from the Hiller Road entrance and exit through Walnut Plain Road. The goal of this condition is to improve safety and prevent the vans from backing out of spaces.

The board also set the hours of operation for Wellspring Farm as a condition. The farm can operate from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday through Friday, with emergency visits lasting no more than an hour outside of regular operating hours.

The fifth proposed condition was that there needed to be a minimum six-foot fence along abutters and common property lines. The fence also must be maintained and in good condition, as well as the screening vegetation.

Chair Richard Cutler said that he had received a request from abutters for an eight-foot fence, but that he thinks six-feet is reasonable.

This sparked a lengthy conversation among the board and Boerger.

“I think eight-foot is fine if it will make the neighbors happy,” board member Jeffrey Costa said.

Other board members agreed, but Boerger then requested that in order to keep the costs down, the existing six-foot fence could stay, but when sections needed to be replaced they could be bumped up to the eight-foot height.

“The existing fence is six feet. Requiring eight feet is a significant expenditure,” Boeger said.

Sullivan agreed, and said he thinks a six-foot fence looks more appropriate in a residential area.

Ultimately, the board agreed that sections that are replaced have to be increased to eight-feet in height.

The next condition was regarding animal waste. During their site visit, the only issue the board came across was the animal waste storage.

The Vogels offered to purchase a trailer for storage and removal of animal waste, so the condition states that the animal waste must be kept in the trailer, be disposed of within 60 days and kept 25 feet from property lines. Originally the condition stated 30 days, but the board complied with Boerger's request for 60.

The seventh condition was that there be no changes in outdoor lighting, and the final condition was that a site plan review with the Planning Board must occur within 90 days of certification from the town clerk. Any modification to the special permit from the Planning Board means the Vogels would have to return to the ZBA.

After the board unanimously approve the special permit, one resident spoke up to ask what this changes for the farm now that the owners have a permit to use the property commercially.

Cutler assured him that nothing would change, and the the special permit is for the farm’s current operations.