Salem — The Salem Herbfarm on Route 85 closed at the end of the 2015 season after nearly 20 years selling plants to the public.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday at Town Hall, the Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing for the Herbfarm's next venture as a wedding venue.

The 12-acre property at 320 Hartford Road is owned by Anne and Joseph Duncan. The commission will consider their application to have the property designated as a Special Agricultural Zone, a floating zone that would be in conjunction with the property's current designation as residential.

The Special Agricultural Zone was created to promote agricultural use of properties in Salem, including greenhouses, animal husbandry, and breweries and wineries. Fox Farm Brewery on Music Vale Road, slated to open later this year, received the designation in January.

Because the Herbfarm would become a "special event facility," the application also includes an amendment to the Special Agricultural Zone regulation to include special event facilities as a permitted use.

According to the application, the Herbfarm was opened in 1997 on property that has been owned by Anne Duncan's family since the early 1900s. In addition to plant sales, the plot housed demonstration gardens and a gift shop in a 149-year-old barn. In 2007, an outdoor tent was purchased for seasonal seminars, community gatherings and weddings.

Retail sales ended in June 2015, and the reopening of the farm would shift from having weddings as a side use to its primary use. The application identified that it would take about a year to complete the new landscaping plan, and most weddings are booked a year in advance.

If the application is approved, it would reopen in April 2018 for weddings and other events from April to November.

Joseph Duncan is also the chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission. Vice Chairman Vernon Smith said Duncan has been upright about recusing himself from all discussions regarding the application, including a site visit held on Sept. 17.

a.hutchinson@theday.com