GREENFIELD — More than a year after voting to require that the Haywood Street candle manufacturer Aromatic Fillers get a special permit to continue its operations, the Zoning Board of Appeals is expected to discuss and vote on a proposed resolution to the company’s appeal by facilitating a special permit process.
Shortly after the ZBA’s unanimous July 2024 vote, Aromatic Fillers filed litigation appealing the decision in Franklin County Superior Court, seeking a reversal on the grounds that it was “not supported by substantial evidence,” as the company had been operating since 2015 under a manufacturing permit that was granted to the site’s previous owner. Although Aromatic Fillers is located in a residential zoning district, the 2-acre lot was grandfathered for commercial use, and in 2014, Robert Savage was granted a manufacturing permit for the production of cutting tools.
“[The] plaintiff’s appeal is based on an assertion that the defendant board’s decision was … contrary to the law because Aromatic Fillers is continuing with the same use permitted by the previous special permit,” the litigation states, arguing that the ZBA was “in excess of its authority because there has been no substantial change in use by Aromatic Fillers.”
Gordon Quinn, the city’s attorney, sent a letter to ZBA members on Monday requesting that both the city and the company agree to pause litigation until the company applies for a special permit. The resolution was placed as an item to be discussed and potentially voted on during the Thursday, Sept. 11 ZBA meeting.
Quinn said he believes the agreement will satisfy both the board as well as resident Marion Griswold, who initially claimed the business was a manufacturing business in a residential zoning district that did not have permitting and was emitting noxious odors.
“Our recommendation is for the board to vote to approve this agreement,” Quinn wrote in the letter. “Entering into this agreement avoids the litigation costs and risks associated with the pending litigation, and it accomplishes a goal sought by both Ms. Griswold and the board.”
ZBA Chair David Singer, in an interview Tuesday morning, said Aromatic Fillers representatives have expressed support for the agreement. He stressed that he, too, believes it will serve as a fair and inexpensive way to settle the conflict.
“It was our opinion that we had a stronger case than [Aromatic Fillers] did, and they agreed to the board’s proposal, so they must have evaluated the case similarly. Certainly it’s saving the applicant money as well, so they decided to come for a special permit,” Singer said. “Sometime in November or December, they’ll apply for a special permit and we’ll go through the proceedings that the Zoning Board [of Appeals] thinks they should have gone through in the first place.”
Debate over whether the company needed a special permit persisted in a series of public hearings from May to July 2024, in which attorney Jacob Morris, who represented Aromatic Fillers owner Todd Green, referred to the business’ right to operate under its previous manufacturing license as being “black-letter law.”
In response, Singer, during a July 2024 hearing, argued that under precedent of the 1973 Powers v. Building Inspector of Barnstable case, the business is required to apply for a special permit to approve the site’s new use.
Although the ZBA hearing focused on determining whether the site’s permit was legally applicable to its current use, much of the public comment centered around whether its odor had a negative impact on the surrounding neighborhood.
“I’m asking that the ZBA require that Aromatic Fillers apply for a special permit to operate in this location,” Griswold said at the time. “The operation of Aromatic Fillers’ business involves a number of impacts on the neighborhood. … These include the emission of chemical pollutants into the air, which neighbors have complained about repeatedly over the course of five and a half years.”
Other neighbors to the site, such as former Mayor Roxann Wedegartner and her husband, Richard Wedegartner, both spoke at the May 2024 meeting, arguing that although they live close to the property, the smell has not bothered them. Roxann Wedegartner referred to Green’s business as being a “great corporate neighbor.”
“I have personally never smelled odors that were detrimental to me. As I said, I don’t live right across the street from it,” she said at the time. “Hopefully something can be worked out that will be satisfactory to the neighbors.”
Singer said he expects the facility’s scent will again be one of the primary factors that neighbors discuss during the special permit hearing later this year. He added that he believes the process will be essential to concluding the matter fairly.
“We’re happy that they’re coming before us for a special permit. We’re going to treat it like every other special permit,” he said. “I think it was a good thing for everybody and I appreciate that Aromatic Fillers agreed to it so that we could just get through this already.”
