GREENFIELD — Jim’s Tree Service has been ordered to have a sound engineer assess the level of noise being produced at the business’ Wells Street location after neighbors complained about “horrendous” noise, sometimes as early as 7 a.m.

Owner Jim Elwell and his attorney, Scott Cote, appeared before the Planning Board after it was brought to the town’s attention that the company never presented a site plan after moving to its current location at 275 Wells St. more than four years ago.

Cote argued Elwell shouldn’t have to present a site plan to the board because his business is allowed by right in the General Industry Zoning District, but Director of Planning and Development Eric Twarog said new uses on properties 5,000 square feet or more must go before the board, even if they’re allowed by right. 

Cote said this is the first the business heard of the site plan requirement.

“The town can’t catch every scenario,” Twarog said. “How the building inspector didn’t catch this sooner, I don’t know.”

Several neighbors attended the board’s meeting last week to voice concern over the loud noise produced by the business’ wood processing operation, which they say begins as early as 7 some mornings. Although the business is open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Elwell said most work is typically done off-site. The only process that’s done at the Well Street location is splitting large tree trunks and putting them through the chipper. From there, the wood chips are shipped to Cooley Dickinson Hospital’s wood-burning power plant in Northampton.

Neighbors said they’ve noticed more noise than usual this summer, which Elwell said was due to a broken splitter that caused a backup of tree stumps for five months. Once he started the machine back up in May, Elwell said he had to run it, along with the noisy chipper, for five to six hours a day to catch up on work. 

“Seven o’clock in the morning is not a normal practice for us to chip,” he said. “Usually we try to do it at the end of the day, probably from 12 to 4 or something like that.”

But this is not the first time the town has received noise complaints about the business. 

According to comments provided to the Planning Board by the Health Department, Jim’s Tree Service was the subject of numerous noise complaints when it was located on Norwood Street. It was cited twice by the Health Department with abatement notices, requiring the business to mitigate the noise, and the department also met with the business multiple times and restricted what pieces of equipment it could use at different times throughout the day. Eventually, Jim’s Tree Service conceded that it would not operate noisy equipment on the site and would find a different location. 

The department recommended to the Planning Board that a sound engineer conduct an assessment of the noise at the Wells Street location at the business’ expense.

Diane Morrissey, who lives on Chapman Street, said sometimes the noise is so loud that she can’t hold a conversation.

“Since he has started his business, I would say the last two summers I have not spent maybe more than one hour at a time in our backyard because of the noise,” she said. 

Planning Board Vice Chairman Linda Smith said she went to the business in anticipation of the site plan review and was shocked at how noisy it was.

“I drove up the street several blocks and you could hear it,” she said. “It felt like the place was shaking practically, it was so loud.”

Planning Board Chairwoman Roxann Wedegartner said she empathizes with Elwell’s need to fully operate his business, but said she isn’t sure whether that’s the best location for him to operate that part of his business. Cote said Elwell has looked into building a soundproof structure to house the machinery, but that wasn’t cost-feasible. Elwell added he’s had a very difficult time finding a location to run his business.

Greenfield has no law prohibiting certain decibel levels, but language in the town’s zoning ordinance states that no sound or noise shall be observable more than 450 feet from a business’ boundaries without instruments in the General Industry Zoning District. The sound assessment will measure decibel levels from that 450-foot distance.

The Planning Board still has the ability to limit the business’ hours of operation, and will continue the site plan review to its Nov. 17 meeting. Jim’s Tree Service was also ordered to present a better-defined site plan to the board.

You can reach Aviva Luttrell at:
aluttrell@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 268
On Twitter: @AvivaLuttrell

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