Lost Acres Orchard Farm Store in Granby Expanding

The Granby Planning & Zoning Commission unanimously approved an application to expand the farm store at the in North Granby.

Specifically, the plan calls for the 130 Los Acres Road store to expand by 276 square feet to accommodate an employee work space that would include, among other things, a walk-in cooler and a work table. No customers would be permitted in the new area, according to Virginia Wutka, who owns and operates the farm with her husband, Tom.

The Lost Acres Orchard grows 20 varieties of apples, as well as peaches, pears, plums, cherries, raspberries and quince. In addition, the farm store, according to the farm's web site, produces, among other things, "jams and jellies, pickles, pies, breads, soups, quiche, cookies, fudge."

The additional space is necessitated, according to Virginia Wutka, because the business is growing and the Wutkas want to make the farm kitchen more energy efficient. The cooler that the store/kitchen currently uses is offset in another building on the farm, requiring employees - mostly high school students - to trek between structures.

Business has increased, Virginia Wutka said, due to an expansion of the catering operation, the involvement in the town’s Sampler Program, the farm’s participation with the East Granby Farmers’ Market and people’s general appreciation that they should buy local.

“We don’t advertise; all of our business is through our customers’ word of mouth,” Virginia Wutka said. “We just need more work space.”

The approved application also calls for the expansion of the porch on the farm kitchen to allow for more tables and chairs to improve the sitting area.

Prior to the vote, one resident, John Jenkins, of 62 Lost Acres Road, expressed his concerns about the intensity of the use of Lost Acres Road as well as the parking situation, or lack thereof.

Jenkins said that when he first moved to Lost Acres Road in 1965, there were just 10 houses in the area; now there are 38 houses that use the road, when factoring in those located on Apple Tree Lane and Clemons Spring Road. In addition, the Lost Acres Vineyard opened last year, further increasing traffic.

“The problem is that the road hasn’t changed,” Jenkins said, noting that people like to - or have to - park their cars on the side of Lost Acres Road to access tag sales that occur two or three weekends during the fall.

The Planning and Zoning Commission included as a condition of the approval that the applicant not have parking along the side of Lost Acres Road.

Virginia Wutka said that she could achieve that by putting up something like scarecrows that notify people not to park on the side of the street.