SHEFFIELD — After listening to concerns from neighbors and others for almost two hours, the Sheffield Planning Board last night continued a contentious public hearing on a proposed cannabis cultivation facility on Polikoff Road.
The board heard from nearly 30 people and all but a handful spoke in opposition to the proposal by Wise Acre Farm for a commercial outdoor marijuana farm at 286 Polikoff Road. In order to proceed, Wise Acre partner Jon Piasecki of West Stockbridge needs a special permit from the Planning Board, which was taking public comment this week for Wise Acre’s application.
When Planning Board chair Ken Smith opened the floor to questions from board members, there were none, so he went straight into public comment.
The concerns were much the same as those expressed by neighbors in a story reported by The Edge earlier this week. While few of the neighbors spoke in opposition to cannabis itself, all were concerned about the location and the impact on the families that live on Polikoff Road in the East Ashley Falls section of town.
“I do not support granting this special permit,” said Judy Webb, who has lived on Polikoff Road for nearly 29 years. “I recognize they have a legal right. However, I do not believe they have selected an appropriate site to pursue this endeavor.”
“This is a residential neighborhood with kids and families and that’s the way we want to keep it,” added Kennth Brown, another resident of the mostly tree-lined street. “We don’t want any businesses there.”
Click here to listen to or download an audio recording of the hearing. The hearing was not held via Zoom. The only way to attend remotely was through a conference call.
Abutter Tracy Stoddard has organized a Change.org petition against the Wise Acre proposal. Lawn signs have popped up on Polikoff Road protesting the proposal.
Other concerns centered on odor, noise, and the potential effect the proposed farm could have on the aquifer because of the irrigation needs of the two acres of cannabis plants. Some residents said their private wells have failed, presumably because of establishments in the area that used lots of water, including Ruby Farm Florals, the Sheffield Sod Farm and Pine Island Farm, which has roughly 1,600 dairy cows.
Piasecki threw cold water — so to speak — at the idea Wise Acre’s use of the aquifer could cause more well failures. He said his farm would use 750,000 gallons per year to irrigate his crops on sandy soils that cannabis plants favor. That water use, he said, “is orders of magnitude less than they use in the sod farm, the nursery, or Pine Island Farm.” The average rainfall in the area is 48 inches.
“Our use would be significantly less than 1% of the incident water that would come in,” Piasecki explained. “And furthermore, the water we do use will go right back down into the aquifer because we’re doing agriculture.”
As for odors, Piasecki explained that, if needed, he could employ commercial odor reduction facilities and techniques that use organic enzymes that “essentially eat the odors” and break them down.
“Should you complain or should the town require it … I will install that if you would like,” Piasecki said.
Sheffield resident Sam Stolzar, a 14-year veteran of the Great Barrington Police Department, was unimpressed: “Mr. Piasecki is showing his true colors once again as he did at the public impact meeting earlier this year. He’s a businessman. He cares about one thing and that’s his deep pockets. He doesn’t care about this neighborhood. He doesn’t care about the town of Sheffield.”
The 2.15-acre outdoor cultivation farm is part of a larger 20-plus-acre property currently owned by the Cronk family, about half of which lies in the Rural District. As proposed, the farm itself is away from Polikoff Road in the western half of the site, which is zoned commercial or “General Business” — a designation that allows cannabis cultivation by special permit from the town Planning Board, according to Section 7.5 of the town zoning bylaws.
So, even though much of Polikoff Road is residential in character, the section in question is not zoned residential and is therefore vulnerable to commercial development.
Piasecki already has a small artisanal licensed cannabis grow facility at his farm on Route 41 in West Stockbridge, near the Great Barrington town line. Click here to see the site plan for the proposal for 286 Polikoff Road, and here for the special permit application.
At least two people spoke in defense of the embattled Piasecki. One man, whose identity could not be determined, said he was more concerned about other environmental hazards in the area such as the manure lagoons at Pine Island Farm, or the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient used in the weedkiller Roundup, on the cornfields that dot the town.
At one point, selectman Martin Mitsoff, who is up for reelection next year, asked Piasecki about the taxes that would be paid by Wise Acre. On Jan. 26, Pisasecki successfully negotiated a host community agreement with the town of Sheffield. The agreement requires Wise Acre to pay a 3-percent quarterly fee based on his gross sales.
It is also worth noting that a 2016 ballot initiative legalizing recreational marijuana in Massachusetts passed by almost 7.5 percentage points statewide and by 24 points in Sheffield. Mitsoff also noted that town voters approved Sheffield’s cannabis bylaws at town meeting and therefore had the authority to change them.
“So, is Mr. Mitsoff only worried about money?” asked an unidentified woman.
“Now we know who you’re voting for,” added someone else.
“Just to be clear, Martin doesn’t get a vote,” board chair Smith quickly added.
“The voters will unvote him,” the woman replied.
“At least I know 30 people that won’t be voting for me,” Mitsoff quipped.
The exhaustive session went past 10 p.m. before weary attendees stopped offering comments. The evening started at 7 p.m with another public hearing. Berkshire Welco, which operates The Pass, also has an application before the Planning Board for a proposed cannabis lab and manufacturing facility at 34 Home Road.
Considering the late hour, Smith suggested both public hearings be continued to March 10, when the board’s regular meeting is scheduled. The motion passed unanimously.
