West Stockbridge tells cannabis farm to expand its odor-control plan. Wiseacre Farm owner agrees. | Central Berkshires
Jon Piasecki, seen here in this Eagle file photo from May 2021, is the owner of Wiseacre Farm in West Stockbridge. At 2 acres, it is the smallest commercial outdoor cannabis farm in the state. But nearby residents claim the odor the grow throws off is big. Piasecki told the West Stockbridge Select Board on Thursday night that Wiseacre will work to reduce the smell and report back to the board on that effort.
WEST STOCKBRIDGE — The Select Board has put the owners of Wiseacre Farm on notice: Step up your game on your outdoor cannabis growing operation’s odor control and give us a written report by Jan. 20 on additional action steps for next summer.
During a special, two-hour meeting Thursday night attended by at least 75 people in person and online, the discussion led by board Chair Kathleen Keresey was lively, civil and respectful.
West Stockbridge Select Board Chair Kathleen Keresey presided over a lively but civil discussion at Thursday’s special meeting to deal with neighbors’ complaints about odors emanating from the Wiseacre Farm marijuana cultivation facility.
Keresey called for a written odor mitigation plan “sooner rather than later, we owe that to the people assembled here, given the circumstances and severity that people have suggested they’ve experienced in their homes.”
At Selectman Andrew Potter’s suggestion, the plan would be included in an annual inspection report due on Jan. 20. Wiseacre’s team agreed to that timeline.
Wiseacre Farm Inc. President Jon Piasecki, a landscape architect, and the landowner and business partner David Jadow of Stockbridge, asserted that while many odor mitigation steps had been taken, more can be explored to respond to citizens’ concerns.
Wiseacre Farm President Jon Piasecki tells the West Stockbridge Select Board and audience members that he’s willing to expand odor controls at his marijuana cultivation facility in order to be a “good neighbor.”
Potter pointed out that the town’s Host Community Agreement with Wiseacre calls for an independent expert engineer to address neighbor complaints “to the satisfaction of the town,” although he added that “in my experience, experts never satisfy everybody, and that’s a guarantee.” Residents have complained that the outdoor cannabis farm’s smell is too much.
West Stockbridge Selectman Andrew Potter proposed that, in response to neighbors’ complaints, Wiseacre Farm should prepare a report on expanding its odor controls at the marijuana farm.
Piasecki said he’d be happy to work with an engineer at Byers Scientific based in Bloomington, Ind., during next year’s growing season so odor measurements can be taken. “This is essentially a negotiation,” he said, noting that “a pre-eminent smell engineer, who is our friend, can come starting next August, working through harvest season at the end of October.”
“We want to be good neighbors with you, but you have to be good neighbors to us, too,” Piasecki said, addressing the crowd. “You’re all welcome to come see us.” He called Wiseacre Farm, its product and activity “a positive thing for the town. The jobs it creates are good.”
Jadow, the landowner, said, “We don’t like the idea that people are upset.” He told the Select Board that the goal is to work collaboratively with the town and neighbors, adding that the farm is in a manufacturing zone.
“This is the odor of a flower, that’s all it is, and some people like the odor and obviously many people do not,” said Jadow. “We wish we were not inconveniencing anyone. We want to work cooperatively over a period of time so people are less troubled, because we are troubled to hear that people are troubled.”
Attorney Aaron Dubois, representing the Wiseacre cannabis farm in West Stockbridge, called for a reasonable approach to expanded odor controls. He spoke at Thursday’s special Select Board meeting where neighborhood complaints were aired.
The attorney representing Wiseacre, Aaron Dubois of Stockbridge, described the smell as “very, very subjective.” He claimed that “billions of people enjoy that smell.” Dubois asserted that the cannabis “aroma” does not cause illness “and does not make anyone high.”
According to Dubois, a “reasonable plan” is designed to avoid “a legal nuisance. Not liking the smell in your backyard from a few weeks to a few months does not rise to the level of a legal nuisance.”
Dubois explained that “legal nuisance” is defined by state law and in the Host Community Agreement for 2 acres of marijuana plantings at Wiseacre Farm.
“We’re not saying there’s no impact,” he said. “I’m sure there is, and we’re trying to mitigate it as best we can. But we need to be reasonable. Further mitigation steps will be taken next year, which is really the test.”
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“We’re not saying there’s no impact,” said Wiseacre Farm attorney Aaron Dubois. “I’m sure there is, and we’re trying to mitigate it as best we can. But we need to be reasonable. Further mitigation steps will be taken next year, which is really the test.”
Those will include outdoor fans to move and disperse the air so the smell is noticed by as few people as possible, the attorney stated.
He listed 11 recent odor samplings taken by the West Stockbridge Board of Health — with three finding a strong odor during a period of extreme humidity and calm or low wind. Four results showed “moderate-plus” stench, one moderate, one mild, one “almost no odor” and one no odor.
Dubois suggested that “there are people, and not a small amount, if given the opportunity would use [the farm] as a wedding venue, because there are people who like and enjoy it.”
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West Stockbridge resident Gary Quadrozzi said he wishes Wiseacre Farm well. “However, they don’t have a right to make it so I can’t sit on my deck and enjoy the day because it smells like a skunk.”
West Stockbridge resident Gary Quadrozzi acknowledged Wiseacre’s right to operate a business but not to affect his quality of life.
“I wish them well,” Quadrozzi said. “However, they don’t have a right to make it so I can’t sit on my deck and enjoy the day because it smells like a skunk. They also don’t have the right to potentially lower the valuation of my property and to possibly make it more difficult for me to sell my house if I choose to do so.”
But resident Maya (Haggarty) Copeland, a Wiseacre employee, responded that “the farm has brought so much to West Stockbridge, and has been a tremendous help to the community, as well as bringing revenue into the town, which was desperately needed.”
However, nearby Baker Street resident Tom Walsh said the odors have been increasing since August, “even infiltrating our house through air conditioners in the windows. I have nothing against people who want to smoke or use marijuana. But unfortunately, it has changed our house, the way we live there, and affected us severely, being floored by the smell of skunk. It’s really kind of killed the enjoyment around the house, there are mornings when it’s really, really, really pungent.”
Richmond resident Jane Mayer tells the West Stockbridge Select Board and an audience of area residents that odor controls must be enhanced at the Wiseacre marijuana farm.
Richmond resident Jane Mayer, citing Wiseacre Farm operator Piasecki’s academic degrees, told him, “This is your test, Jon, to pass or to fail it. There clearly are many complaints, and we’re holding you, your team and your town responsible for enforcing your farm’s agreement with all the requirements to mitigate the odors, to bring close to zero the odors emitting from your farm. This is your opportunity to prove yourself as a good, responsible neighbor and businessman. May I remind you, we are watching.”
Another nearby Richmond homeowner, Richard Pfeiffer, described the “offensive smell, the extremely pungent odor, horrendously strong” as “24/7 for the last three months.”
“It makes people ill, so I expect to see a mitigation plan, and we won’t know the results until next summer. Next year is going to be the tell-tale, so we have time to plan and see what’s going to happen.”
Additional comments during Thursday’s West Stockbridge special Select Board meeting on odor complaints from neighbors of the Wiseacre marijuana cultivation farm included these:
“If you’re living near it, you’re probably going to smell it, just like I smell cow manure all spring long because I live close enough to farm,” said Dawn Smith Korty, a West Stockbridge resident. “It’s sometimes the price of doing business. I’m sure that they jumped through hoops to build the [cannabis] farm where they built it.”
“Jon [Piasecki] has brought revenue. He’s employed many of us. He’s the type who’ll say, ‘Come when you can, leave when you need to.’ I’ve never had a boss as nice as this man,” said Evelyn Garstang, a West Stockbridge resident and Wiseacre Farm employee.
“We’re not anti-business, anti-cannabis or anti-job, but the smell is truly affecting me, my kids, my wife. We wouldn’t be here if the smell wasn’t truly affecting us. We’re not here out of spite. We’d just like the fresh air that we used to breathe, the odorless air, back,” said Richmond resident Alec Belman.
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