BERLIN – The town’s board of zoning appeals is set to consider plans for a new building at the Berlin Commons.
Next Wednesday, the board of appeals is set to hear a special exception request from Brett and Megan Hines of The Buzz Meadery. The owners hope to erect a three-story building on the section of the Commons property closest to Main Street.
“It wouldn’t be quite the Commons anymore, but we want to retain as much green space as we can,” Megan Hines said.
In 2021, The Buzz Meadery opened the Berlin Commons on Jefferson Street, in the vacant lot once owned by Habitat for Humanity of Worcester County. The couple turned the vacant lot into a fenced-in community green space and encouraged the public to take advantage of it. Throughout the year, they sold mead from The Buzz Meadery van and hosted special events like Merry Marketplace.
In an effort to establish something more permanent on the site, they’re now moving forward with plans to construct a three-story building on the part of the property adjacent to Jeffrey Auxer Designs.
“The overall plan is for a mixed-use commercial space…,” Megan Hines said. “Ultimately we want to promote the amount of business in Berlin. We feel it’ll bring in tourists looking for something different.”
She said that while they wanted to keep the green space at the point of the triangular property, the building would feature a taphouse on the first floor with a small seating area. The second floor would be additional seating and special event space. The third floor would be residential.
Hines said that because they want to leave as much green space as possible, they are seeking a special exception for the setbacks on the lot from the board of appeals. Hines said that would allow the structure to be located closer to the sidewalks on both Jefferson and Gay streets rather than be extended farther into the green space to the south of the property.
The town’s board of zoning appeals is set to hear the special exception request Wednesday, April 12, at 5:30 p.m. While The Buzz Meadery has submitted a conceptual rendering to show the footprint of the structure, planned for the site, Hines stressed that the design was not final.
“At the board of appeals we’re just asking for the setbacks,” she said, adding that the project would eventually be reviewed by the Berlin Historic District Commission and the Berlin Planning Commission.
For this summer, she said the Commons would be operated like it was last year.
“We’re continuing business as usual,” she said, adding that people were welcome to continue to use the Commons to eat lunch or sit outside.
