Freetown Planning Board Continues Chase Road Recycling Permit to November 18

FREETOWN — November 4, 2025 — Freetown Planning Board continues contentious Chase Road food depackaging permit amid neighbor outcry. The board voted unanimously at its November 4 meeting to continue a commercial recycling special permit hearing for Beach Bluff Farm at 89 Chase Road, owned by John Melo, to November 18 at the Freetown Elementary School, while a companion commercial composting permit hearing was pushed to December 2. Melo's representatives, attorneys Tony Riley and Richard Burke Jr., presented video and a PowerPoint describing a Tiger DPAC automated food depackaging machine designed to separate packaged food waste into animal feed, proposing a cap of 40 truck trips per day and hours of 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays. Town counsel from KP Law pressed applicants to quantify the line between agricultural and commercial use, telling the board, "You are proposing to be allowed to take in more than you need to run your farm." Neighbors, including residents of Ethan Circle and Chase Road, submitted a 36-signature petition, video footage of late-night truck traffic, and testimony about years of odors, pest infestations, and concerns about runoff into Long Pond, a public drinking water source. The board indicated it must build a full conditions list before taking a final vote, with a temporary two-year permit among the options under discussion.