SOMERS, Conn. — After four years in court, cease-and-desist orders and countless trips to Town Hall, Worthington Vineyards & Winery, the Somers Zoning Commission and neighbors irked by noise, crowds and traffic have reached a settlement.
The deal, reached Monday in Hartford Superior Court and announced Tuesday, means the winery can expand with a new tasting room.
Construction will begin in 2026, owner Mark Murdoch said. The winery at 359 Mountain Road in Somers is a little more than a mile south of the Massachusetts line. About half its business comes from Massachusetts.
“We can only fit 50 people in our tasting room now,” he said. “So things are slow for us in the winter.”
The agreement also lays out how and when Worthington Vineyards & Winery operates and hosts events, said Jennifer Roy, Somers assistant director of land use and zoning enforcement officer. It’ll remove ambiguities and confusion that’s led to disputes with across-the-street neighbors Kenneth J. and Michele A. Prior.
“All parties were relieved that they were able to work things out in mediation,” Roy said as spokesperson for the town on the matter.
Murdoch said the dispute was technically between the neighbors and the town, but he needed to defend his business. Now, despite living with restrictions, he has clarity.
“The nice thing is, for us, it defines what we can and cannot do,” Murdoch said.
The phone number listed for the Priors is disconnected.
Murdoch and his wife, Karen, began planting their 100-acre winery about five years ago, buying the turkey farm that had fallen into disuse in 2021 after the town created new zoning regulations allowing for farm wineries.
The Murdochs opened the winery in 2022 under a special use permit, Mark Murdoch said.
Roy said a prior owner also hosted events there under a special use permit and the two permits were not to be used simultaneously. That is, to keep crowds under control the tasting room was not to be open when an outdoor wedding was happening.
Roy said she was forced to issue cease-and-desist orders against the winery at times.
The settlement includes some restrictions for the winery, including limiting outdoor musical entertainment to 30 days a year with at least one weekend and one Sunday per month without any outdoor music.
Worthington is allowed to host up to 10 large private outdoor wedding receptions per year.
The tasting room can be open until 8 p.m. daily, and the agreement permits wine-pairing dinners and theatrical entertainment.
On its website, Worthington Vineyards & Winery promotes weddings, trivia contests, paint-and-sip nights and mixology classes as well as snowshoeing and cross-country skiing and ice-skating parties with heated igloos for rent.
In summer, the winery offers hiking, boating, tours of the vineyards and an opportunity to feed goats.
“We are a recreation center that’s a farm winery,” Murdoch said. “It’s great for families. Kids can go off and play. Its a relaxing place to be.”
Roy said the Priors agreed to notify the other parties before shooting on their property.
“There will be no target practice during a wedding,” Roy said. “It has happened.”
In one lawsuit, the Priors complained that the town’s Zoning Commission allowed winery supporters to interrupt, belittle and intimidate residents who opposed Worthington Vineyards & Winery’s plans at healing on the permit.
The Priors also measured sight lines for traffic on Mountain Road. They live at 364 Mountain Road, very near the winery.
That lawsuit says First Selectman Timothy Keeney was in Worthington’s corner. It quotes him as dismissing Prior’s complaints, saying: “I believe that a lot of the issues being raised are harassing.”
