GREENFIELD — The Planning Board approved on Thursday night a site plan review, with a number of conditions, for a trucking company that lacked necessary permits and has drawn complaints from area residents.
After a 2½-hour discussion, the board unanimously approved the site plan review for the company at 347 Wells St., provided that the applicant remedy the existing violations and mediate some of the concerns outlined by residents, particularly the issue of noise outside of operating hours.
“We’ve been at this location a couple of years,” said Eugene Darmanchev, an owner of the trucking firm, explaining that the property was previously owned by another trucking company. “But I guess that property never went through the Planning Board, so that’s why we were asked to go through the process and present what we’re doing over there.”
The property, which is located in the General Industry Zoning District, is used to park the trucks, as well as to keep supplies for the trucks.
“It’s not a 9-to-5 operation,” he said. “We get in the trucks and we go to work over the road, all over.”
A local contractor, J.S. Rae, is a tenant on the property and also uses it to store its equipment, Darmanchev said. The contractor’s yard is in the process of getting a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals for an 8-foot fence, which was previously installed without city approval.
“That’s something they did, and now we know there’s no permits pulled,” Darmanchev explained.
Planning Board Chair Charles Roberts read letters from various town departments, identifying violations and proposed solutions, as well as a citizens’ petition that outlined residents’ concerns.
“The business is allowed by right,” Roberts said. “Then we have to find a pathway here to allow the business to operate but at the same time be a good neighbor.”
In addition to the fence that was installed without a permit, other violations included keeping more than one unregistered vehicle on the premises and installing a sign without the required permit, according to a letter from Building Inspector Mark Snow.
In a letter read by Roberts, the Department of Public Works commented on access issues, and the deterioration on the road edge because of increased traffic.
“It is recommended that a 10-foot-by-30-foot-wide paved apron be installed, where J.S. Rae vehicles enter and exit the site, to prevent further deterioration of the road edge,” wrote Alan Twarog, engineering superintendent.
He also commented on stormwater drainage issues, recommending a grassed swale be added along the interior of the fence line, along the Wells Street side of the contractor’s yard.
Neighbors of the property, two of whom spoke at the meeting Thursday, had complaints about dust and noise — mostly linked to the sound of idling of trucks. In a citizens’ petition, they requested the Planning Board cease activities of the two businesses for being detrimental to health and safety.
“I’d like to assure the neighbors we’ve read the correspondence and we’re aware of the concerns here,” Roberts said.
Planning Board members questioned Darmanchev on the idling trucks, which residents claimed could be heard before the hours of operation and late into the night.
“We try not to idle,” Darmanchev said. “But especially when it’s colder weather, you cannot warm up a truck in five minutes. You’re pretty much ruining a piece of equipment if you’re not letting it come up to operating temperature.”
As for the late arrival of trucks, which also contributes to the noise, he said he couldn’t commit to not arriving back to the lot before 10 p.m., the company’s last hour of operation.
“I don’t want to be held to that 100 percent, because sometimes it happens that you might get stuck in traffic, and you come home later than you expected,” he said.
Planning and Development Director Eric Twarog clarified for Planning Board members that they could limit the morning hours to starting no earlier than 7 a.m. — which includes starting up the trucks and letting them idle — but they had no control over when the trucks return to the property.
As for the idling that goes beyond the state law of five minutes, that is up to police to enforce, Eric Twarog added.
Much of the conversation Thursday night focused on how to mediate the concerns of residents on the issue of idling, and the associated noise of the trucking company and the contractor’s yard. Darmanchev said he would inform his tenant to abide by the 7 a.m. start time.
“It’s not like we’re trying to be bad neighbors,” Darmanchev said. “We’re trying to be our best. … We’re trying.”
Because the zoning ordinance allows for the company’s use of the site by right, the board could not deny the application unless there was significant health and safety issues involved that couldn’t be mitigated by condition, according to Eric Twarog.
In addition to the recommendations given by the DPW, Planning Board members suggested a vegetation screen that would help with both noise and light pollution, as well as prevent dust from leaving the property.
Ultimately the board approved the site plan, with the following conditions: no tractor trailer trucks can start or leave the site before 7 a.m., which includes idling; the applicant is required to return to the Planning Board with a designed landscape screen buffer that will mitigate noise and dust, and that will exist year-round; the applicant conforms to DPW’s suggestion for the apron and drainage swale; the applicant requests a fire inspection; the applicant adheres to truck routes as presented on the application; the applicant implements dust mitigation during dry weather; and the applicant removes or registers all unregistered vehicles on the Wells Street property in excess of one unregistered vehicle.
Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne
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