On Wednesday, July 20, after a five-hour hearing, the Vienna Board of Zoning Appeals granted a permanent conditional use permit to the leaf grinder that operates just off Beulah Road.
At the hearing, town manager John Schoeberlein presented a list of amendments to the conditional use permit. Several of the amendments were language modifications, but Schoeberlein also requested a major change: instead of a two-year conditional use permit, the town was seeking a permanent one.
"It serves no useful purpose to continue to argue the same points year after year and the granting of a permanent CUP will allow the town to continue a vital and needed service to all of our residents," Schoeberlein said, reading from a memorandum outlining the proposed amendments.
Other amendments included extending the grinder’s operating hours from four and a half to six hours per day between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., which Schoeberlein said would shorten the entire operation by about four days a year, and a request to specify the terms of mandatory sound testing. Sound testing is expensive, said Schoeberlein, and the town should only be required to perform sound tests six times during the leaf season, for one year.
Many of the terms specified in the CUP relate to complaints from residents of the neighborhoods surrounding the grinder. Some residents have complained about the noise coming from the machine, hence the sound testing, and about the odor caused by decomposing leaves, which gave rise to clauses in the CUP mandating odor control.
"I am of the opinion that the Town of Vienna has done or has pledged to do everything reasonable to make this operation compatible with the neighborhood," said Schoeberlein, reading from the memorandum.
OPPONENTS OF the leaf grinder have fought its existence every step of the way, and Wednesday’s hearing was no different.
Sean Curtin, an attorney who lives on Holloway Court, testified to the board that changes should be made to the CUP if it was granted.
"What the town is asking here is extraordinary, and bears a very high burden of proof," he said. "The town is asking to put an industrial operation in the middle of a quiet residential neighborhood."
Adele Freidel and Linda Ebersole, who live near the Beulah Road property where the grinder operates, testified against the permit based on the grinder’s high noise level. Freidel presented a report on the town’s previous noise study, performed by acoustic experts Miller, Beam, and Pagianelli, which she said was flawed.
Noise study results should be reported in peak levels, not averages, said Freidel, because the grinder does not operate all day.
"We are falling within an unhealthy range of noise," she said.
"The backup beepers (on mulch loading equipment) wake you up out of bed," said Ebersole.
The board debated the idea of new radar backup beepers that only sound when there is an object behind it, but ultimately decided that those beepers are so sensitive they wouldn’t make a difference.
Freidel also testified against the permit on behalf of the Northeast Vienna Citizen’s Association (NEVCA) that aspergillis fumigatus, a fungus kicked up when the mulch is disturbed, causes health problems.
"(Aspergillis fumigatus) is very dangerous," said Freidel, who said she had a note from her doctor to back up her claim.
"The town’s efforts are laudable, but whether the operation can stay in a residential neighborhood should depend on results," said Karen Church, of Sherwood Drive, in her testimony against the permit.
After the public hearing closed, boardmembers discussed the presentations given by Schoeberlein and the residents.
"We still don’t have much of a handle on the sound (issue)," said boardmember Gregory Haight, who said he was not in favor of setting decibel limits.
As for the health issues presented by Freidel, board chairman Marshall Potter said not enough information was available to make a ruling.
"There is no record of problems with town employees, who would be most affected by it," he said. "I believe that it is pure speculation at this time."
"We’d all feel like a bunch of darn fools if a year or two from now a bunch of people are injured and we were sitting here saying, ‘Gee, we don’t know,’" said boardmember Donald Chumley.
In the end, the board granted a permanent CUP for the grinder. It approved all the language changes to the permit, but kept the four-and-a-half hour maximum workday for the grinder.
Although the town no longer has to apply for the CUP every year or two, the permit can still be revoked if the town fails to meet the agreed to terms.
"The town has to respond to the citizenry most affected by the operation," said boardmember Charles Brewer. "The ballot box is the ultimate, remember."