Overview:
After recieving 49 noise complaints over the course of Tree House's Summer Stage concert series this year, Selectboard members weighed solutions as they approach the Jan. 1 deadline for deciding on the brewery's entertainment license renewal. Residents called for action, including hiring independent sound engineers to monitor the concert volumes at neighbors' homes and Tree House constructing sound-absorbing panels.
DEERFIELD — Residents continued to express frustrations with noise from Tree House Brewing Co.’s summer concerts to the Selectboard on Wednesday, as the board prepares to decide whether to renew the business’ entertainment license and add conditions by Jan. 1.
At least two meetings are planned in the meantime to discuss the license, according to Town Administrator Christopher Dunne.
Assistant Town Administrator Greg Snedeker said the town received 49 noise complaints over the course of Tree House’s Summer Stage concert series this year. Ahead of the license decision deadline, residents told the Selectboard about their difficult experiences with the noise and called for restrictions.
“I am not anti-Tree House, but I do not believe I should have to sacrifice the peace and quiet of my home so that they can increase their profits,” resident Matt Tuttle said.
Throughout the concert season, Tuttle said he heard a difference between the quieter opening acts and louder main acts from his home.
“This indicates to me that Tree House can address noise pollution concerns when it chooses to, but is electing not to do so consistently,” Tuttle continued. “Tree House has repeatedly stated that they have learned a lot about managing concert noise, but I’ve yet to see or hear any meaningful application of that knowledge.”
Resident Vinnie Russo said the loud noise rattled his windows and picture frames.
“It was so consistently loud that I frequently had to have the air conditioners on and the TV just to get even a little reprieve,” Russo said. “The issue isn’t that Tree House is at these decibel levels for hours at a time constantly, it is how jarring it is, and there doesn’t seem to be any way for residents who are negatively impacted to feel like they’re being heard.”
Later in the meeting, Selectboard Chair Trevor McDaniel read a letter submitted by Jackson Road residents Susan Patterson and Tami Gaylor.
“There is an old legal saying that one cannot complain if they move to a nuisance, but this situation is reverse as the nuisance has moved to us,” the letter stated before listing ideas for solutions, including the Selectboard hiring independent sound engineers to monitor the concert volumes at neighbors’ homes, and Tree House constructing a bandstand and panels around the property that absorb sound. The letter also demanded a freeze on the number of concerts and events Tree House can host until noise issues are “resolved to the [neighbors’] satisfaction.”
Dunne said he and Snedeker already met with Tree House representatives about “low-hanging fruit” solutions, including raising the subwoofer speakers from the bottom of the stage up toward the upper speakers. According to Snedeker, who worked as a sound engineer for 30 years, subwoofer speakers project lower frequencies, such as the bass and kick drums. By phone on Thursday, he compared the rattling that listeners often feel in their chests when standing near a booming bass speaker to the rattling of walls that concerned residents described.
Snedeker added that lower frequencies travel more easily through the ground than higher frequencies and are therefore more likely to shake nearby buildings the closer they rest to the ground.
Besides raising the subwoofer speakers, the Selectboard also discussed other possible terms if the entertainment license is renewed, including monitoring the decibel levels of the concert noise.
Referring to Tree House, Selectboard member Tim Hilchey said, “They have made changes, but they haven’t monitored to find out what the effect of those changes were, so, without an effective monitoring component, we’re just guessing.”
Fellow Selectboard member Blake Gilmore echoed the call for monitoring sound levels. He added, “There should be no concerts on a school night, period.”
At the close of the discussion, Hilchey added, “It’s been said that we’re only listening to Tree House. Well, that’s not true. I’m not listening to Tree House. What I want Tree House to do is to be a responsible neighbor, and I want to have some say in what that means.”