Unlicensed ‘wedding venue’ does not get a happy ending in North Grafton
The photos show a picture-perfect wedding venue with white chairs lined up to create a grassy aisle that ends at an archway in front of a lilypadded pond.
There was just one problem: K-Rose Farm in North Grafton is not licensed for weddings. The town alleged it was operating as a non-permitted boarding house, work on the property was done without permits. and the neighbors were annoyed enough to complain to the town, which shut it down.
Building Inspector Robert Berger sent a cease and desist order on September 21 to owner Kimberly Andrews Long, citing ongoing zoning and building violations on the residentially zoned, .7 acre property at 47 East St. Long, then a Shrewsbury resident, purchased the property in 2016.
“As the property owner, you are responsible for applying for and obtaining all permits and approvals necessary for activities taking place at your property,” Berger wrote. “Therefore, I ORDER the following: 1. That all persons immediately cease and desist from operating this property as a commercial use and or for the assembly of people unless and until you have applied for and received all necessary permits and approvals; 2. That you allow the Grafton Permitting Departments to inspect your property, as is required by law.”
K-Rose Farm’s Facebook business page and listings on Airbnb have been removed, although apartments.com still lists a two-bedroom unit on the property. A cached listing boasts “Rustic charm at K-Rose Farm. Beautiful venue for Weddings, Birthday parties and private functions. Venue can accommodate 10 to 200 people.”
Long does not deny that she allowed weddings on her property. She does deny that it was operating as a business.
“We only offered up our yard to friends of friends who were finding it difficult to get a venue for things due to Covid,” she said. “We won’t be offering it to anyone else going forward as it isn’t anything formal we are interested in pursuing. We will be using our lovely yard for our own personal use.”
Berger referred comment to Temporary Town Administrator Carter Terenzini, who wrote “I cannot say how long the alleged use of the property for wedding venues has been occurring but became aware of it through several complaints from neighborhood residents. After investigation to determine the validity of the complaints the Town did commence action to cause the cessation of these activities until such time as there is compliance with our local zoning and licensing requirements. With respect to AirBnB, their permissibility may vary by zone and intensity. Beyond that, these are ongoing enforcement matters for which we do not comment.”
