State: Ice Cream Shop Owner Needed Permits for Barn Construction

The state Department of Conservation and Recreation yesterday because of some construction that was done inside a historic barn to expand the business.

DCR Commissioner Ed Lambert said the barn dates back to around 1910 and not only is historic but could pose health and safety issues with ice cream being served there.

 "There was unauthorized construction that took place at the old barn in an attempt to expand the operation, and no building permits or permission was  sought and so we were concerned and wanted to check for health and safety standards, so we temporarily closed it to have reviews," said Lambert.

 Lambert said the ice cream operation is normally done in a little space in the front of the barn area but expansion was done on the inside the barn.

"So part of it involves the potential for disrupting material over 100 years old, and what is in the material? Does it create an issue of dust particles or something else that requires testing before you start serving food? And we were also concerned about building code and fire code violations," he said.

Lambert said he will work with Mark Duffy, the owner of the shop, to sort out the problems. The state is still waiting on the analysis of the reviews that were done on the property, he said.

 "If everything is fine, we can look toward re-opening," he said. "(There might be some) additional work to do, so we just don’t know yet and we think Great Brook is a great place and the ice cream operation has been a part of that and we’d love to re-open it."

 Lambert said the state did approach Duffy on Friday before it made the closure.

"Initially he refused to comply, but by later in the day, we got past that," said Lambert. "When it comes to public safety, you can't give notice, you have to act immediately if it’s a potential health and safety threat."

Lambert said he wasn't sure yet if there will be fines involved for the operation or if it will just be a matter of getting the proper permitting and moving on. Lambert said fixing the issue may involve going through local officials such as the building inspector or the state historical society because the barn is historic.

"Our first concern is health and safety, after we get past that and we get the ice cream stand (open), we can deal with the other issues," he said. "We regret the inconvenience, we wish it didn’t happen but we think the state park is a great place and I love ice cream too so we want to work to get it open, but public safety comes first."

A call to the Duffy family was not immediately returned yesterday.