Zoning Squashes Wedding Plans

"The 1800's-era barn being renovated at Broadturn Farm in time for a wedding on Saturday is not going to be part of the nuptials.

Scarborough code enforcement officers, alerted to the project by a story in today's Portland Press Herald, visited the barn and told the farmers that they had not obtained proper building approvals.

Code enforcement officer Tom Reinsborough said the barn project can continue, however. Reinsborough said the farm applied for a building permit today, which the office granted because it would be safer to get the barn renovated than to stall the project with open areas in the floor still left to be finished.

But he said the wedding celebration cannot take place in the barn this weekend. He recommended that all the festivities take place outdoors.

The farm would have to work with the town on a plan that would allow the barn to be used for purposes other than agricultural – a process that could take months, Reinsborough said.