HADLEY — The owner of a Route 9 landscaping company, who last fall cleared debris from the 243 Russell St. site to avoid being shut down, is again being warned that he could be subject to a cease-and-desist order and forced to close.

During a site plan approval hearing before the Planning Board Tuesday, Steve Vaiano, owner of In the Green Gardens, was advised that a dilapidated perimeter fence has to be fixed by Jan. 16.

In addition, planners advised Vaiano to hire a civil engineering company to evaluate the drainage on the property, determining if possible contaminants are running off the parcel into wetlands and catch basins, and also to have the Conservation Commission do a walk-through of the property.

Vaiano said he had hoped to hire a civil engineering company, but was unsuccessful.

“I wasn’t able to get somebody out here,” Vaiano said, explaining that he reached out to a number of companies without securing their services.

“All I can do is encourage you to keep looking, Mr. Vaiano,” Planning Board Chairman James Makimoski said.

In the Green Gardens had been the subject of complaints, including last fall from neighbors, after soil, concrete and boulders were stored on the site, possibly changing drainage patterns and clogging existing catch basins.

The property is the former site of Hastie Fence Co. Vaiano has housed his business there since February 2021, renting the home and using the rest of the property to store equipment and material.

Planning Board Clerk William Dwyer said Vaiano should have had professional help more than a year ago when he began renting the property, as that could have provided a “due diligence red flag.”

“We’re not trying to put you out of business, but we can’t really give you a green light to keep on doing what you’re doing,” Dwyer said.

Planning Board member Joseph Zgrodnik said it is hard to approve site plans when the size of buildings are not identified on any documents. “We need some more precise information,” Zgrodnik said.

Maksimoski said Route 9 is designated as a business zone, so a landscaping business is allowed. “We cannot stop a permitted use in a permitted zone,” Maksimoski said.

Dwyer said Vaiano is allowed to move dirt around, but can’t cause issues for neighbors, and if he has altered the contour of the land he would be asked to cure any problems affecting abutters. A walk-through by the Conservation Commission would identify if sediment is affecting wetlands and catch basins.

As at similar meetings over the past several months, Paul Zahradnik, who runs Hadley Park Plaza at 245 Russell St., said he is asking that Vaiano install his own drainage to catch chemicals.

“I don’t want those chemicals coming onto my property,” Zahradnik said.

Zahradnik said that a soil sifter, which Vaiano had used to screen and grind dirt, is still on the property looking “worse than a junk car.” He also claimed that Vaiano is regularly backing heavy equipment over the lawn, destroying the aesthetics of his property, which is occupied by 32 tenants, ranging from accountants to massage therapists.

“There’s a lot of issues with him running the business there,” Zahradnik said.

Vaiano disputed that any of his employees are damaging the grass, contending, that it’s customers making the wrong turn from Route 9 to get to the Hadley Park Plaza businesses who then cut over the grass, rather than returning to the state highway.

Vaiano added that the soil sifter is at the front of the property because he is trying to sell it.

The public hearing will continue Feb. 6, a meeting date selected so that the Conservation Commission can offer input.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.