Hatfield Planning Board trims USA Waste truck permit to 25 vehicles, sets review

HATFIELD -- May 6, 2020, Hatfield Planning Board unanimously approved a scaled-back special permit for USA Waste, capping truck parking at 25 vehicles instead of the requested 34. The board, which had previously permitted 20 trucks under Alternative Recycling Systems, conditioned the new permit on Conservation Commission approval of a 460-foot stormwater drainage swale and continuation of the existing stormwater maintenance plan. Alternate Chair James C. Tarr and other members backed the compromise after abutters cited persistent odor, garbage on neighboring properties, and chronic over-parking well above the 20-truck limit. "We're not I think the issue of you know 35 trucks on the site is just, the site is not really set up for that," said board chair Bob Wagner. The permit includes a 12-month review, set for May 2021, at which point the board may adjust the truck count up or down. The board also heard an informal pitch from farmer Bernie Moravsky and partner John Stabber to build a 50,000-square-foot cannabis cultivation greenhouse on an eight-acre parcel straddling the Hatfield-Whately line near River Road, with board members flagging riverfront overlay, floodplain, and endangered-species review as hurdles before any formal application could advance.