In response to Dana Doran’s guest column last week about the commercial logging operation in a residential Brunswick neighborhood, I agree that no laws are being broken. The loggers are taking every required environmental precaution, and their safety is a top priority. Over the past month, I have learned much about what is and isn’t protected regarding logging operations occurring close to my property.

Let’s examine what these laws require — or rather, what they don’t. The land in question is only 288 feet wide (less than a football field) behind neighboring properties and is zoned residential. You might wonder how a commercial logging operation can take place in a residential area. It’s because logging is considered an activity, not a use. Landowners submit an application to the Maine Forest Service for selective timber harvesting. The term “timber harvesting” sounds a lot like farming, but farming is not an approved use for this land. This allows the landowner, in this case a developer, to cut whatever they want, the term “selective” is left up to the landowner to decide what this means. Joel Fitzpatrick and Wyley Enterprises hired the loggers to clear cut much of this property with little regard to impacts to the surrounding neighborhoods.

Logging operations do not need to notify neighbors. In this case, heavy logging equipment designed for 100-acre operations entered a quiet neighborhood. If you’ve never experienced a commercial feller buncher picking up five 50-foot trees and dropping them 20 feet from your property, it is terrifying. The noise of the saw is so loud it makes your ears ring. My eight-year-old daughter was so frightened that she didn’t want to be put down as we waited for her bus on the last day of school.

There are no required setbacks from neighboring properties, no considerations for flooding or impacts on neighboring properties, and logging is exempt from noise ordinances. This particular operation ran a mill across the street from a residence, starting at 7 AM, Monday to Friday for the entire month of June. Wetlands and vernal pools are not protected if they are under a canopy of trees 25 feet or higher and the landowner doesn’t own more than 100 acres. Public safety requirements are non-existent: no notices, no fencing, no spotter, and large stacks of logs—an attractive nuisance for kids—can be left out. Although, no trespassing signs were posted after much of the logging had been completed to protect the loggers from the neighbors…

Loggers can place access roads wherever they want, which can conflict with local zoning requirements for development.

Mr. Doran should direct his concern at the developer Joel Fitzpatrick, who has highlighted the lack of logging regulations, not at the powerless neighbors. Perhaps Mr. Doran should adopt a policy of empathy towards neighbors and inform them about the operations, how close they will come to property lines, and what steps are being taken to ensure safety. When I asked the Maine Forest Service which agency outlines protections for my property and family from logging operations, they said none exist. As commercial logging operations move from the northern Maine woods to suburban neighborhoods, these simple protections don’t seem like too much to ask.

Nathan Hintze is a Brunswick resident.