Hampden Planning Board Approves Gluten-Free Home Bakery, Defers Used-Car Dealership Vote

HAMPDEN -- June 24, 2026, Hampden Planning Board unanimously approves gluten-free home bakery and continues Summers Road public hearing to July 22. The board voted to grant a home-occupation permit to Victoria Murray for Two Looms Baking Company, a gluten-free specialty bakery she plans to operate by pre-order from her residence at 25 Circle View Drive, contingent on approval from the town's board of health, which had an inspection scheduled for the following Monday. The board also conducted a required site plan review, but no vote, for Andrei Fadash's proposed used-car dealership, EA Express, at 106B East Longmeadow Road, a permitted use in the commercial district; Fadash still requires a Class 2 dealer license from the Selectboard, expected to come before that body in July. In a separately opened public hearing, the board voted to continue the Salmar Realty special permit application for a restaurant and retail establishment at 2 Summers Road, Lot 3, to July 22, 2026, after receiving a June 16 letter from permitting coordinator Nina Fazio of R. Levesque Associates citing unfinished civil revisions and a pending supplemental traffic study from consultant Bowman. One board member noted the town currently has approximately 162 home-occupation permits on record, though the planning board's own list accounts for far fewer.