A town known for its rural roads and race track, Loudon was given an alternative reputation Tuesday night: “Land of the Midnight Sun.”
About 30 people attended a Loudon select board meeting Tuesday night to discuss the light pollution issue caused by LEF Farms on Route 106.
The year-round, hydroponically grown salad greens company has started production and, in the cold and dark of winter months, needs to keep the lights on at night to continue growing the greenhouse plants.
The neighbors have noticed. Some describe being able to read a newspaper in their yard at midnight. Others say they can’t sleep because of the orange light coming through their bedroom window shades.
Then there’s the man named Skip, who stood up Tuesday and compared his Currier Road property at nighttime to the orange, monochromatic lighting on the planet Mars. Thus, the land of the midnight sun.
He asked the select board, “Was any impact study done on this? On the lighting?”
No such study appears to have been done beyond a routine site walk, according to planning and zoning board meeting minutes from June and July 2015. Those are the months the LEF Farms project was discussed and eventually approved.
The minutes do note that the planning board later granted a lighting waiver to the project. No abutters were present for any of these meetings.
(Henry Huntington, the president of LEF Farms and a planning board member, recused himself from any meeting proceedings dealing with the project).
Loudon officials began fielding complaints about LEF Farms’ light this autumn. Several residents attended a Nov. 1 meeting to explain that, even living 3 miles away from the greenhouses, their homes were bathed in bright light at night, they could hear noises sounding like generators, and they also experienced several power outages.
More residents showed last night to say that two months later the light was still an issue. They said it was especially bad on cloudy, foggy or snowy nights, when the light is reflected and is even brighter.
“Basically I never had to use my shades before and now I do,” said Shaker Road resident Shawn Muzzy. “It’s difficult to sleep.”
Huntington said at both meetings that his company is trying to work on these issues.
“Growing this type of product, we’re learning in terms of what it takes,” he said Tuesday. “We’re asking for your patience.”
Huntington added that though LEF Farms has shades in their greenhouses, they are not doing a good job of holding the light in, which is bad for both abutters and the company’s efficiency.
“The light is critical to our growing success,” he said.
Huntington said that even with LEF Farms being in a commercial zone in Loudon and being fully approved by the town, the company wants to be a good neighbor, too.
“The last thing we want to do is upset the town of Loudon,” he said.
Huntington said that the company has found some better, guaranteed light-blocking shades it can put up, but those will have to wait until LEF Farms expands into more greenhouses.
He said that the company can’t stop its current operations, which is what would be required to get the light-blocking shades up.
“So it’s imperative that you guys go to the grocery stores,” he said to a chuckling audience, “and buy as much of our salad greens as you can that allows us to expand and put up the blackout curtains.”
In a more serious tone, Huntington gave his word that the shades would be put in as soon as the expansion took place, projected within the next two years.
In the meantime, LEF Farms has taken to turning on its night lighting after the evening-enjoyment hours to minimize impact.
Some residents are looking for more tangible action, however.
Bob Phillips, who lives on Route 106 north of the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, read from a written statement where he suggested the permit for LEF Farms be revisited.
Phillips also suggested Huntington step down from the planning board to prevent the appearance of conflict of interest.
Phillips received no response on Tuesday, but the topic is scheduled to be discussed again by the planning board on Jan. 19.
Canterbury’s planning board intends to be there. Though the members weren’t allowed to speak last night, they said they’ve received calls from their own residents about the lighting, too.
“There’s regional impact,” member Hillary Nelson said.
(Elodie Reed can be reached at 369-3306, ereed@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @elodie_reed.)