At the request of the applicant, the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) has postponed a public hearing on a vineyard/winery proposed for land off Pole Bridge Road in Sandy Hook.

The development proposal for a sloping 41-acre site at 56 Pole Bridge Road initially had been slated for a hearing on March 21, but at the applicant’s request, the public hearing will now be held at 7:30 pm on Thursday, April 4, at Newtown Municipal Center, 3 Primrose Street.

Naugatuck resident Ardian Llomi is proposing the vineyard/winery. Town real estate records indicate that the vacant land, which is in a R-2 (Residential) zone, is owned by Mr Llomi and Neviana Zhgaba. The site has extensive frontage on the east side of Pole Bridge Road, just south of Pole Bridge Road’s intersection with Bancroft Road.

Mr Llomi is seeking two approvals from the P&Z — a special zoning permit and a site development plan endorsement. The applicant is represented by Chipman, Mazzucco, Emerson LLC, a Danbury law firm.

The owners of 20 properties that lie within 500 feet of the boundaries of the 41-acre site will be notified of the P&Z’s April 4 public hearing by mail. The site abuts residential properties and town-owned open space land.

Proposed for the site are a winery building, a four-bedroom house, parking spaces for 22 vehicles, driveways, septic waste disposal facilities, and graded areas.

Applicable town zoning regulations that allow vineyards and wineries with retail wine sales limit such sales to sealed bottles or other sealed containers of wine manufactured at the winery for consumption off the premises. Also, the zoning rules allow tours and the offering and tasting of free samples of wine to visitors and prospective retail customers for its consumption on the premises. Such activities are allowed provided that the facility has a state-sanctioned farm winery manufacturer permit.