Freetown Planning Board Continues Melo Farm Permits Amid Neighbor Uproar

FREETOWN -- October 21, 2025, Freetown Planning Board continues two special permit hearings for Beach Bluff Farm amid intense neighbor opposition. The board voted unanimously to extend both the commercial composting and commercial recycling applications from John Melo of 89 Chase Road to a November 4 session, signing extension agreements giving the board until December 16, 2025 to file any final decision. Attorney Richard E. Burke Jr., representing Melo, told the board that Melo permanently halted intake of clam byproduct material from SeaWatch International on September 22, arguing the move eliminates the primary odor source, but more than a dozen residents disputed that claim, with one presenting a 34-signature petition and another describing $18,000 in roof damage from seagull activity they attribute to the site. Board of Health Chair Margaret French told the board her department has been tracking complaints from multiple neighborhoods and formally requested inclusion in any deliberations on permit conditions. Building Commissioner Kyle Bazaro's August 2025 investigative report, read into the record, found prepackaged commercial food products and processing equipment inside a building permitted for agricultural use, and concluded that both composting and depackaging operations require special permits under the town's general use zone.