Less than a year after Sweet Berry Farm quietly changed hands following 45 years under the same family, the property’s new owners are seeking approval for a major land development project that would transform the 51-acre Mitchell’s Lane farm with a new 13,862-square-foot complex — including a relocated farmstand, café and a barn designed to accommodate agricultural uses and events.
The Middletown Planning Board is scheduled to hear the application Wednesday, though the applicant has already asked that the matter be continued to the April 8 regular meeting. The hearing is still scheduled for 6 p.m. at Town Council Chambers, 350 East Main Rd. The public may still attend and comment. The meeting is also accessible via Zoom.
New Ownership, Same Name
Jan and Michelle Eckhart, who founded Sweet Berry Farm in 1980 and built it into one of Aquidneck Island’s most beloved agricultural landmarks, announced in April 2025 that they were transferring ownership to a new team. The Eckharts said at the time that Jan would continue driving his tractor and Michelle would oversee daily operations. The new owners were not publicly identified in that announcement.
The application before the Planning Board is filed under SB Farm LLC, with attorney Girard Galvin listed as the applicant’s representative. The project team includes Northeast Engineers and Consultants of Middletown as civil engineer, Cote Architecture of Bristol as architect, and Verde Design of Jamestown as landscape architect.
The Project
Plans call for construction of a two-story bank barn of approximately 7,500 square feet and a relocated farm stand of approximately 4,592 square feet with a lower-level kitchen, the two structures connected underground by a 1,770-square-foot basement with a vegetated roof. Architectural drawings prepared by Cote Architecture depict the buildings clad in vertical wood tongue-and-groove siding with standing-seam metal roofs, fieldstone foundations, a metal-clad cupola and a ventilation silo. The farm stand would include an exposed timber frame entry, covered screen porch and outdoor seating. The bank barn rises to nearly 39 feet at its peak and includes large barn doors on track, a balcony and overhead garage doors.
The existing farm stand building would either be demolished or converted to purely agricultural use. Plans also call for a 36-space paved parking lot, a loading dock, stone walkways, native plantings, ADA-accessible walkways and ramps, bike racks and stormwater management infrastructure. The existing gravel parking area would be reduced to 27 spaces, with historic overflow grass parking retained.
The applicant is also requesting waivers from two commercial design standards: one requiring parking to be located on the side or rear of a building rather than in front, and a second requiring a five-foot landscaped buffer between the building and the loading area on the north side.
Events Use and Regulatory Questions
Application documents and a Feb. 24 letter from the Aquidneck Island Land Trust both acknowledge the barn is intended for events use in addition to farm equipment storage. The development impact statement, prepared by Northeast Engineers, describes the structure as providing space for “agricultural uses including education, workshops, events, and farm support.”
Town Planner Ron Wolanski’s March 4 memo to the board notes that events are permitted under the state Right to Farm Act and the town’s zoning ordinance, but that each individual event requires a separate special event permit from the Town Council.
Middletown’s Building and Zoning Official Chris Costa confirmed in a Feb. 25 memo that the project does not require new zoning relief. The proposed farm stand is the same size as the existing one and does not trigger a new special use permit. Costa designated the 7,500-square-foot barn as the principal structure, with the farm stand as an accessory use. The farm currently operates under a special use permit granted by the Middletown Zoning Board in 2011, which authorized farm promotional uses including events in the barn and outside.
Land Trust and Conservation Easements
The Aquidneck Island Land Trust, which holds conservation easements on the property across three parcels, reviewed the plans and issued a letter Feb. 24 stating the proposed improvements are consistent with those easements — provided agriculture remains the primary use of the land.
The letter, signed by Executive Director Terry Sullivan, states the improvements are consistent with the Right to Farm Act, which recognizes retail sales and special events as valuable means of supporting agricultural preservation. However, Sullivan wrote that if the site ceased to function primarily as a farm — for example, if it operated chiefly as an events venue with little local agricultural production — the property would fall out of compliance with the conservation easement.
The farm has also committed to replacing apple trees removed during construction. The Aquidneck Island Land Trust letter notes that approximately 1,200 new trees are planned for planting this year, with the goal of replacing at minimum the number of trees lost.
Wetlands and Environmental Review
A wetlands reconnaissance report prepared by McCue Environmental LLC of North Kingstown, dated Feb. 5, found two areas of freshwater wetland on the property — one near the existing access drive and a larger wetland to the west — but concluded that all proposed work falls outside RIDEM jurisdiction. The larger western wetland is approximately 323 feet from the limits of proposed improvements, well beyond the 100-foot jurisdictional area applied under state rules. A proposed underground electrical connection from Mitchell’s Lane was found to qualify for a state exemption for utility lines installed beneath existing roadways and cleared shoulders.
The stormwater system is designed to serve two receiving waterways — Paradise Brook and the Maidford River — both of which RIDEM has classified as impaired and assigned Total Maximum Daily Load restrictions for fecal coliform. The proposed drainage design includes surface swales, sand filters and subsurface infiltration systems intended to reduce peak runoff and improve water quality relative to existing conditions.
No traffic study was prepared. The development impact statement says the existing Mitchell’s Lane driveway provides adequate access with good sight lines, and that the project does not constitute an expansion of retail use that would require additional traffic analysis.
Technical Review
The application was certified complete Feb. 11. The Technical Review Committee reviewed it at its March 4 meeting and voted unanimously to forward it to the Planning Board with a positive recommendation, with a note that more detailed stormwater management plans will be required at the Preliminary Plan stage. Under state law, the Planning Board must approve, approve with conditions, or deny the application by May 12.
Written public comments submitted ahead of Wednesday’s hearing included letters of support from a farm employee and Middletown residents. The Planning Board packet also notes that comments were solicited from the DPW director, town engineer, building official, fire department, Tree Commission, Roads and Utilities Committee, neighboring towns and RIDEM.
What’s Next
If the continuance is granted Wednesday, the next public hearing opportunity would be April 8. Members of the public may attend Wednesday’s meeting at Town Hall or join via Zoom at us02web.zoom.us/j/88265537000, by calling (888) 475-4499, using Meeting ID: 882 6553 7000.
The full planning board packet is available at middletownri.gov/504/Planning-Board-Meeting-Packets.
The public hearing begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, at Middletown Town Hall, 350 East Main Rd.