Greenfield ZBA Unanimously Approves Settlement Ending Candle Maker Lawsuit

GREENFIELD -- March 19, 2026, Greenfield Zoning Board ends two-year candle factory lawsuit with unanimous settlement vote. The Zoning Board of Appeals voted 5-0 Thursday to approve a settlement agreement with Aromatic Fillers, LLC, a Haywood Street candle manufacturer that had appealed the board's ruling to Superior Court after the board determined in 2024 that the company's operations, generating pervasive odors that neighbor Marion Griswold had complained about, required a special permit under the three-pronged nonconforming-use test established in Powers v. Building Inspector of Barnstable (1973). Under the agreement, dated February 27, 2026, Aromatic Fillers will cease manufacturing at the site by July 1, 2026, and dismiss its court appeal with prejudice. Chair Peter Mosneyer, who attended court hearings throughout the litigation, said he had hoped the company would seek a special permit and remain: "My personal goal, and I think the goal of the board, was not to have that happen." The mutual release was deliberately narrowed to cover only the manufacturing-use dispute, leaving the property subject to all other city zoning and building obligations.