GREENFIELD — The Community Relations Committee is hoping to hear feedback from residents on Thursday, Feb. 12, alongside commentary from public safety officials, that will inform what actions, if any, the city will take to address noise complaints.
The forum will take place at the John Zon Community Center from 6:30 to 8 p.m. to address a proposed noise ordinance that was brought forth by residents Kate Broughton and Mary Sirum of the Precinct 7 Neighbors Network, a neighborhood organization that launched after residents voiced their grievances over alleged excessive noise at events held at the Franklin County Fairgrounds on Wisdom Way.
However, the movement later expanded to other areas of the city, as residents voiced concerns with noise generated by leaf blowers, loud music or other alleged nuisances.
“For the last two years, P7 members have been researching solutions to mitigate noise disturbances in our own precinct, as well as other parts of Greenfield,” Broughton said in a statement. “We have looked at options from other communities and have spoken with several city department heads about the issues, especially enforcement challenges.”
Police Chief Todd Dodge, Community and Economic Development Director Amy Cahillane, Health Director Michael Theroux and Franklin County Agricultural Society President Michael Nelson are expected to attend and share their thoughts on excess noise in the city.
“We’ve got a panel that’s going to answer some questions just around the types of noise issues that we’ve heard about in Greenfield. There’s going to be a chance for people to break into some smaller groups, discuss the challenges and do a little bit of brainstorming on solutions,” forum moderator and City Council President Lora Wondolowski said. “We’ll be thinking about whether there will be any unintended consequences if we try and mitigate this issue. … We’re coming into this not with the end goal being necessarily an ordinance, because ordinances don’t always solve everything, and if it’s not enforceable, then it doesn’t make sense to do it.”
Wondolowski explained that the neighborhood group plans to use ideas shared at the meeting in an effort to recommend a policy to the city government.
“I’ve heard everything from roosters, to the fairgrounds to — an issue in my precinct — a cannabis grow operation that had really loud fans going and was impacting the neighbors. I’ve heard issues of a tree company grinding stumps and making noise,” Wondolowski said. “It’s an important step in taking something that people are talking about and bringing it to the public to be partners in finding a solution.”
The idea of a citywide noise ordinance, when presented to the Community Relations Committee in November, raised questions of how enforceable it might be.
Former Precinct 7 City Councilor William “Wid” Perry, at the November meeting, noted that City Council last considered drafting a noise ordinance under former Mayor William Martin’s administration. He added that those efforts failed, largely because of the notion that a noise ordinance could not be enforced.
Explaining that she has heard numerous complaints of leaf blowers causing disturbances in the city, Mayor Ginny Desorgher previously suggested that business owners, particularly landscapers, be invited into community discussions on noise regulations.
“That is a huge impact to anybody who owns that kind of a business,” Desorgher said in November. “I can certainly think of a reason why a mayor would veto something like that, if it meant that people’s businesses would go out of existence.”
Agricultural Commission members also discussed the proposed ordinance at a December meeting. With Greenfield designated as a “Right to Farm” city, farmers who have more than 5 acres of land have rights to certain noises that an ordinance could not override.
“If I’m a farmer and I’m up there with my tractor going and I’ve got more than 5 acres, I have a right to do that,” Agricultural Commission member Elizabeth Nett explained in December. “Noise [regulations] apply differently to farmers.”
One of the more controversial protections that the city’s Right to Farm status entails — the right to keep roosters on lots of land larger than 5 acres — also came up for discussion, as commission members agreed that legal rooster ownership, as noisy as it may be, should be exempt from a noise ordinance.
Rooster noise complaints led city councilors to weigh farmers’ rights with reports of disturbances last year after Public Safety Commission Vice Chair David Moscaritolo filed a petition to ban the possession of roosters without a special permit in suburban and urban residential districts. The petition was ultimately halted as city councilors believed that it directly contradicted the city’s Right to Farm status.
“My hope is that neighbors will be good neighbors to each other. Those relations get tense sometimes and so, potentially, the Agricultural Commission or some other body of the city could step in to help negotiate movement of the coop or whatever their solution may be that could remedy the situation,” Precinct 5 City Councilor Marianne Bullock said previously. “As someone who is a chicken owner and who has a rooster problem in my neighborhood, I really see both sides of this issue.”