ASHFIELD — Residents passed all 35 warrant articles at Saturday’s Annual Town Meeting, but not without a heated debate about gun rights that arose during discussion of a new excessive noise bylaw.

The proposal, which was brought to Town Meeting via a citizen’s petition from resident Ron Coler, was Article 34 on the warrant, leading more than 150 people to pack Town Hall following an afternoon lunch break.

Recent issues over excessive noise in town began last fall when AR-15-style rifles were heard being continuously fired at 620 West Road. The incident was ultimately resolved by speaking with the various parties involved, and the town hosted a forum in November 2022 to discuss the larger issue of gun noise.

Coler created a new noise ordinance inspired by the controversy, but he sought to take politics out of the equation and focus on an empirical way to mitigate unwanted noise in general.

“I was distressed with the forum,” Coler recalled. “Everyone felt they were experts. It drew a line in the room. The room was filled with passion but lacked compassion.”

Coler crafted the proposed bylaw in such a way that it would better align with modern laws created by the state Department of Environmental Protection (Ashfield’s existing noise bylaw is 33 years old), assign authority to the Board of Health and give specific measures for how to define excessive noise.

When the time came to consider the citizen’s petition on Saturday, resident Mike Dufresne proposed an amendment that would explicitly add firearms as an exception to the noise bylaw. However, this amendment ultimately failed.

Dufresne’s proposition turned the debate toward the specific issue on West Road, and also prompted some to speak about the right to bear arms. Still others spoke about their fear of even discussing the topic at Town Meeting, with Mary Johnson saying she felt threatened being in the space as a single woman with family members who are not white. This prompted the norms of voting with a vocal majority to cease; instead, each vote was counted through hand raising or paper ballots.

Following two paper ballots, a failed vote to table the article indefinitely that was proposed by Selectboard Chair Tom Carter and the continuous use of voting to stop debate, the excessive noise bylaw ultimately passed, with 92 votes in favor and 54 against.

After hours of discussion about noise and guns, Coler suggested tabling his second citizen’s petition that focused on banning single-use plastic in town, citing how residents felt tired. His motion to table the article was voted down, however, and another hour of discussion ensued.

Modeled after Hadley and Buckland’s recently passed single-use plastic bans, the citizen’s petition sought to eliminate the sale of any plastic food service ware in Ashfield, with several exceptions. The bylaw would not stop the sale of plastic prepared and manufactured outside of town. For example, people would still be able to buy a bottle of soda manufactured outside of Ashfield. Instead, any food made and sold inside the town would need to be packaged in compostable or reusable material.

However, as part of Coler’s proposal, any business would be able to request an exemption from the Board of Health through a hardship deferment application.

The single-use plastic ban passed almost unanimously, with one vote in opposition.

Also passed was the Proposition 2½ debt exclusion in the amount of $300,000 to purchase a new fire truck; an endorsement for town energy aggregation; a 6% tax on short-term rentals, such as Airbnbs; amendments to the Mohawk Trail Regional School District regional agreement outlining the funding formula for town assessments; and Ashfield’s $5.67 million budget for fiscal year 2024, a 7.29% increase over the current year.

With the day having begun with a short Special Town Meeting at 9:30 a.m., followed by the Annual Town Meeting that was scheduled to start at 10 a.m., residents poured out of Town Hall a full eight hours later at 5:30 p.m.

To view the full warrants, which include the text of the new bylaws, visit ashfield.org/2409/Annual-Town-Meeting-Election.

Reach Bella Levavi at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.

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