SHEFFIELD — At a special town meeting Monday evening, June 7, citizens in Sheffield overwhelmingly voted to amend the town’s zoning bylaws to restrict the number of outdoor marijuana cultivation sites to five. The vote was 184 to 37, with the yes votes far exceeding the two-thirds required for passage.
Despite the bylaw change, citizens’ frustrations over issues such as cultivation odors emanating from outdoor grow facilities are likely to persist. In 2018, voters in Sheffield rejected a moratorium that would have allowed the town to create and implement its own set of zoning bylaws before allowing businesses to set up shops and grow facilities. Sheffield voters at the time were concerned about potentially losing out on profits generated by the sale of legal marijuana.
There are five outdoor facilities that operate outside the jurisdiction of Sheffield’s bylaws since they were established before the bylaws took effect: Berkshire Welco (dba The Pass), Theory Wellness, Nova Farms, 10-10 Craft Cannabis, and Canna Provisions.
The moratorium “was voted down quite substantially here,” said Chairwoman Rene Wood as she addressed the town meeting. “I’ve always regretted that. I worked very hard on it and I regret that voters did not pass it.”
The special town meeting, a result of a citizens’ petition effort, saw an attendance that exceeded that of a regular annual town meeting, and required an overflow crowd to be placed in the Mount Everett Regional School gymnasium.
The petition was organized by Catherine Miller, a board member of the Sheffield Historical Society. Requiring 200 signatures, the petition obtained 201 certified signatures.
Most of those who spoke out were in favor of the facility cap.
“The reputation that Sheffield is gaining from more and more marijuana establishments coming through is having a detrimental effect on people coming into the area,” said Lauren Hyde, an organizer in support of the cap. “Think about your own neighborhood and your own field you love driving by … and just know that could become an industrial cannabis cultivation site with 8-foot-high fences, with a huge security system and high-dollar product behind it. At this point, there is no limit on it.”
The conversation quickly shifted away from the proposed bylaw change to general dissatisfaction with the state of outdoor growing facilities in Sheffield.
“It’s all in my back yard,” said Tammy Mathieu. “The whole freaking thing is in my back yard.” Mathieu’s property directly abuts a grow facility owned by Chris Weld, CEO and co-founder of Berkshire Welco. “Now is a prime time to sell our house and get the most for it … but we’ve already lost a $475,000 sale due to outdoor grow. What do I do?” exclaimed Mathieu. “Anyone know a good lawyer?”
“I know that if I owned a body shop or if I was doing plastic coating for Sheffield Plastics and I was giving off an odor or something like that, I would need an air permit or dust collector or something like that,” said Rick McCallum. “The situation is, it’s starting to get pretty offensive down there with the smell.” McCallum was referring to the same grow facility as Mathieu. Despite Sheffield’s odor control bylaws, because Berkshire Welco’s facility was approved before the bylaws were adopted, it isn’t subject to them.
“We hope they want to comply with our regulations,” said Planning Board Chair Ken Smith. “As far as odor control planning goes, we do have it in the bylaws … but for the four or five beforehand, they are pre-bylaw.” This prompted an outcry from Mathieu who declared, “And we suffer!”
There were many nods from the audience concurring with this complaint.
When the results of the vote were announced, there were audible cheers and applause. “We accomplished the mission we set out. I feel great,” said Hyde, speaking to The Edge. “I knew I wasn’t the only one who shared this thought process. It’s really the community that’s had their fair share … I think there may be a saturation point at this point.”
But not everyone was happy. “Sheffield just shut down its largest employer,” noted Jon Piasecki, president of Wiseacre Farm. Organized opposition back in March killed a proposal by Piasecki for an outdoor grow facility on Polikoff Road.
Wood, however, called it a great meeting. “People came informed on the issue, knowing how they were going to vote. I doubt that any of the comments changed anyone’s opinion.”
She urged the citizens of Sheffield to reach out to the selectboard with any complaints they may have regarding any grow facilities. “If we don’t know there’s an issue going on, we can’t solve it,” she said. “I am not aware of a single complaint … we take this seriously. We take this very seriously.”
“It’s an evolution of this bylaw,” said Hyde. “The businesses and how they’re operating and how the town’s citizens are reacting, it’s really an evolution.”
