About the Commercial Expansion at Sweet Berry Farm
PUBLIC HEARING #1: POSTPONED to Wed 5/13
The first public hearing is now scheduled for WED 5/13 at 6 pm at Town Hall 350 East Main Road, Middletown. * Might become a special hearing in a new location. Stay tuned – sign up for email updates and follow on Facebook to get alerts.
[ Mark yourself “Going” the EVENT INVITE for updates and make a plan to attend ]
BACKGROUND
In April 2025, Sweet Berry Farm’s longtime owners Jan and Michelle Eckhart sold their Land Trust property of 40+ years to SB Farm LLC, an investment group/blind realty trust headed by Tom Hagerty, Denis Dowdle and others.
Hagerty—the local ownership face of the project—lives in Cambridge, Mass., and runs a private equity firm in Boston. He and his wife own a second home on Indian Avenue and have invested heavily in the area, including the 2018 purchase and renovation of Peabody’s Beach. Hagerty has also invested purchased many homes and open space plots in the Green End and Third Beach Road area, including many homes on Howland Ave and Vaucluse that were torn down despite their history and condition.
Dowdle is a real estate developer, most notably the area around the WooSox/Polar Park in Worcester. He has also invested heavily in Aquidneck Island, including Newport Memorial Cemetery.
WHAT IS BEING PROPOSED?
Hagerty & co. are now seeking permission from the town for a major development project.
Read more below or go to the MiddletownRI.gov Planning Packet for the full proposal.
2 NEW BUILDINGS, 1 NEW LOCATION
The proposal involves relocating and rebuilding the existing farm stand and café, along with adding a new two-story, mixed-use building (labeled “the barn” on the master site plan). Visuals below.
All totaled, the buildings equate to more than 26,000 sq ft. This compared to existing farm stand and events barn of 4,592 sq ft.
The 2 new buildings, 36-car parking lot, and 24’ wide truck road will be just north of the current market. (If you’re driving in from Mitchell’s Lane, picture the area to the right—where the first apple picking rows are.)
In meetings with abutters, Sweet Berry’s COO Kate Fay shared that the “barn” will be for agricultural and commercial uses, including 200+ person weddings, gala fundraisers, and corporate events.
This expansion is significant and, we believe, goes beyond the allowances in the 1996 Easement between the Aquidneck Island Land Trust and Eckharts.
Fast Fact: An easement is a land-use agreement/contract. All easements are different depending on the property and AILT-Owner agreements. In this case the AILT owns and manages the development rights to Sweet Berry Farm.
KEY VISUALS FOR THE SWEET BERRY PROPOSAL
HOW DID THIS PROPOSAL GET THIS FAR?
Two key decisions have allowed this proposal to advance this far without a preliminary public review:
2) There was no Zoning Hearing; Middletown Zoning official Chris Costa signed off in a one-page memo
1) AQUIDNECK ISLAND LAND TRUST // LETTER OF SUPPORT
As the trustees of the property, the Aquidneck Island Land Trust controls the development rights to the 913 Mitchell’s Lane plot. Plot 125/1 is about 50 acres of the farm’s total 88 acres. There are 3 more plots (see visuals), plus a lease-back 12 acres near the Third Beach Road entrance, leased from the Wyndham Hill HOA.
All 4 of Sweet Berry Farm’s plots are conserved via the Land Trust; plot 125/1 is governed by a 1996 Conservation Easement between AILT and Jan Eckhart; ostensibly Hagerty & co. signed the same “in perpetuity” agreement. That’s fancy lawyer language that means “forever.”
Each property under AILT’s stewardship, including the 4 Sweet Berry Farm lots, has a different agreement and different development allowances.
As a conserved farm, Sweet Berry’s property has limited development rights, such as a 30×50′ farm stand, a barn is allowed (it is a farm after all) and was later amended to allow for small, occasional events. A single family dwelling is also allowed, for example.
Read the 1996 Conservation Easement between AILT and Jan Eckhart.
Read the AILT’s 2/24/26 Letter of Support below, or on the MiddletownRI.gov Planning Packet.
2) MIDDLETOWN ZONING // ONE-PAGE MEMO SIGN OFF
Typically, new construction buildings require approval from the Zoning Board via a public hearing.
If you or your Middletown neighbor, want to put up a new building on your property, for instance, a garage, or expand your house foundation by just one inch, you must get a special zoning variance. (That’s fancy language for “permission.”)
Yet, this 26,000 sq ft, two-building complex was inexplicably signed off in a one-page memo with Zoning Official Chris Costa citing “same as existing use” and “conforming” (translation: same) square footage.
Of note: Existing farmstand market and events/barn space currently totals 4.592 sq ft.
Read the 2012 Town Decision that OKed the Eckhart Farm Stand Build
Read the Middletown Zoning Chris Costa 2/25/26 Memo below, or on the MiddletownRI.gov Planning Packet.
Abutter & Neighbor Concerns
Community Response: Acute, Swift & Specific
- Why we’re mobilizing, how we’re mobilizing
- Abutter and neighbors objections and concerns
- How to help: resources, contact emails & lawn signs
KEEP SWEET BERRY SWEET!
STOP THE COMMERCIAL EVENTS EXPANSION
We love the magical place the Eckharts created in our special part of the world, but the proposal by the new owners to add a new set of buildings including a 7.500 sq ft commercial events space pushes the bounds of the farming mission, the Land Trust easement, and Town’s residential zoning ordinances.
Whether you are a direct abutter, Green End area neighbor, Middletown resident or an Islander, we all have a keen interest in the broader impact of this project as it stands to set a detrimental and possibly irreversible precedent.
Together, we can ask thoughtful questions, demand important answers from our Town Council, and create safeguards that protect our community from unchecked commercial development.