To the editor:

Neighbors Advocating for Fresh Air (NAFA) is a group of concerned community members from West Stockbridge and Richmond addressing the noxious odors from the outdoor cannabis-cultivation facility at Wiseacre Farm in West Stockbridge. These fumes have infiltrated our homes and backyards, significantly affecting our quality of life and peaceful enjoyment of our property.

Over the past three years, NAFA has been working with the Town of West Stockbridge and Wiseacre to develop odor-mitigation strategies. While fans and sprays have reduced some odor, the nuisance of fan noise has become a new issue, and the unpleasant odor remains.

With the next growing season upon us, the town scheduled a community discussion to recap 2024, including input from town and Wiseacre experts, as well as additional odor- and sound-mitigation measures. However, this discussion was abruptly removed from the April 14 Board meeting agenda, leaving NAFA without a voice to address its concerns about another season of odor and noise impacting neighborhood residents. Although NAFA promptly provided a detailed summary of last summer’s Wiseacre operations, similar to Wiseacre’s annual report, it has never been discussed. The town has not responded to our requests to reschedule this public meeting, possibly due to Host Community Agreement issues between the parties, including fees.

We urge the town to put the community meeting back on the agenda immediately, so planning for odor- and noise-mitigation at Wiseacre Farm can resume before it is too late.

Thomas Ruffing
On behalf Neighbors Advocating for Fresh Air (NAFA)
Richmond/West Stockbridge

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