Following a public hearing and discussion at a Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) meeting, P&Z members have unanimously approved allowing food trucks to permanently do business at the farmers market that is regularly held at Fairfield Hills.

Voting in favor at the P&Z session held earlier this month were Chairman Don Mitchell, Jim Swift, Barbara Manville, Ben Toby, and David Ruhs.

In April 2016, after extensive discussion, the P&Z approved zoning regulations that provided for a one-year trial period, during which a small number of food trucks were allowed as a feature of the farmers market in order to gauge the workability of such an arrangement.

Town Planning Director George Benson told P&Z members September 5 that the one-year trial period was held to determine whether the presence of food trucks would be disruptive at the farmers market. But there were no problems involving traffic, litter, or other matters encountered during the test period, he said.

After the one-year trial period, the market did not seek to make food trucks a permanent feature of the weekly event, so no P&Z action was initially taken.

The presence of food trucks is seen as a way to increase attendance at the market, Mr Benson said.

On Tuesday, September 17, one food truck, known as Sonny’s Grinders, was parked at the well-attended farmers market at Fairfield Hills. The truck sells sandwiches and offers foods with an Asian character.

Locally, during the growing season, the Newtown Farmers Market is conducted from mid-June to late October on Tuesdays, from 2 to 6:30 pm, at Fairfield Hills. Over the years, that event has been held at various locations at Fairfield Hills. This year, the market is being conducted off Keating Farms Avenue, at the site where Woodbury Hall stood before its demolition.

During the 2016 market season, the market had one food truck. It sold french fries.

Besides a market fee, food truck operators who do business at the market pay a town Health Department fee for food service inspection.

Food trucks are subject to inspections for sanitary conditions similar to the inspections conducted at conventional eateries located inside buildings.

In late July, Newtown attracted about 20 food trucks to Fairfield Hills when the Chamber of Commerce of Newtown and the town Parks & Recreation Department jointly staged the Second Annual Newtown Day event.

According to the P&Z regulations on food trucks at the Newtown Farmers Market at Fairfield Hills, a maximum of three food trucks is allowed at each farmers’ market session; the trucks must be parked on asphalt; food truck vendors must register with the town at least two weeks before the first farmers’ market session of the season; and if there are more than three food truck operators who want to participate, the market will hold a lottery to determine who will be allowed to attend.

The P&Z defines a farmers’ market as a seasonal outdoor event where items are offered for sale to the general public, including fruits, vegetables, herbs, plants, flowers, eggs, honey, maple syrup, dairy products, jams, jellies, baked foods, and seasonal items such as Christmas trees and cemetery baskets.

What is now The Newtown Farmers Market at Fairfield Hills began years ago as an all-organic market in Sandy Hook Center.

The market started in a parking lot behind the former St John’s Episcopal Church on Washington Avenue and was also temporarily located at the former Lexington Gardens site on Church Hill Road. It returned to St John’s, after which it gained permission to hold the market at Fairfield Hills.

In its first year there, the market was staged near the former main entrance to Fairfield Hills. During the following two years, it was positioned near Danbury Hall, a building that has since has been demolished. The market then moved to the area lying north of Shelton House before coming to its current location.

The town-owned Fairfield Hills core campus is in the Fairfield Hills Adaptive Reuse (FHAR) zone. The P&Z allows a farmers’ market in the FHAR zone provided that it complies with the state Department of Agriculture definition of a “certified farmers’ market.” Items offered for sale at a local farmers’ market must be Connecticut-grown or made from Connecticut-grown produce.