🔒Restaurant owner proposes horse-racing track on Enfield farm

A restaurant owner is proposing to construct a horse-racing track and training facility on a 59.3-acre farm in Enfield. Nicholas Vamvilis, owner of Maine Fish Market Restaurant in East Windsor, has applied for a special permit to develop a commercial horse training facility. A public hearing on the application is set for the Planning and Zoning Commission's meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. Thursday. The property at 20 Oliver Road, which contains mostly vacant farmland, is owned by Seafood Delight Farm LLC in Somers. Nicholas Vamvilis and Peter Vamvilis are listed as principals of the company, which is based in Somers. The trapezoid-shaped property, which is zoned for industrial use, hugs Interstate 91 to the west and is adjacent to Enfield Animal Hospital. According to the project plans, a half-mile oval horse-racing track will be constructed on an existing hay field, along with three barns, each with two stories, ranging from 7,200 to 8,550 square feet, and a gravel parking lot. The inside of the track will contain a series of paddocks for training or holding horses, with grass and hay landscaping. Bathrooms are proposed in the barns, along with minor exterior lighting by the doorways. No outdoor seating is planned. The current driveway used to access the property will be replaced with an 18-foot wide gravel driveway with a new three-sided box culvert carrying it over an intermittent stream. The application states the proposed facility is a “general continuation” of the current agricultural use of the property and is not expected to be detrimental to any adjacent properties. A similar commercial horse training facility with a racetrack, Lindy Farms, is located in Somers.