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Since it moved into Aurora during the pandemic, Hello Fresh has not only created truckloads of prepared food from its building right off Orchard Avenue, but also plenty of headaches, some nearby residents say.
Just ask some of the neighbors who live close to the facility and hear the rumblings of the refrigerated diesel trucks they insist run nearly nonstop.
Julia Hirschberg, who lives directly behind Hello Fresh, blames those sounds, along with the diesel exhaust and the other odors being emitted, with a host of physical ailments she’s struggled with since the spring of 2021.
Headaches, yes. But also respiratory problems, stomach issues and drowsiness, she said. She even claims her cognitive abilities have been affected.
Sometimes the noise and ground vibration is so bad it it causes her entire house to shake, Hirschberg told me, with blinds hitting her windows and glasses knocking against each other in the cabinet.
You can also count Aurora Ald. Carl Franco among those with Hello Fresh headaches. Only, his pain comes from being “very frustrated” with complaints from constituents who claim the food plant has affected their quality of life and, for some, is literally making them sick.
“You have no idea,” said the Fifth Ward alderman when I asked about the Hello Fresh brouhaha and the steps the city and company have taken to make a bad situation better.
In April, officials from Factor 75, which is owned by Hello Fresh, said it is spending at least $1 million on adjustments to its facility in Aurora. Some of the changes to the facility have been done, but some have yet to be taken care of, company officials have said.
It was a recent Friday, early evening, when I stopped by to see for myself what it is like to have Hello Fresh as a neighbor. I noticed the sound the second I stepped into Hirschberg’s back yard.
A low rumbling growl. Not obnoxious, but obvious enough I could not tune it out as I walked the exterior of this lovely home she purchased 13 years ago and which sits directly behind the plant.
While the noise was far from ear-shattering, it would certainly not be what I would want to deal with when sitting out in the back yard or, heaven forbid, entertaining friends.
“It’s become no-man’s land,” said Hirschberg, pointing to neighbor Roberto Lopez, who stopped having outdoor family gatherings since Hello Fresh moved in.
“It’s not just the sound and vibrations. It’s the smell of onions and a mixture of all things,” he told me, adding that his windows have been “closed and taped up” for the last two years because of the ongoing issues.
While “this has been a better week,” with sound levels “minimal” compared to other times, Hirschberg recalled plenty of rough days, like a recent night a grandson who lives with her could not get back to sleep because of the vibrations.
I’ve heard similar complaints, including from a longtime friend who lives in a townhouse across Orchard from Hello Fresh and is often disrupted by truck noise at night as well as the odor that makes it difficult to be outside at times, even to walk the dog.
Air quality can get nasty, confirmed Hirschberg, who uses a monitor to gauge its level.
Franco insisted he and the city care about these residents, but points the finger at a grassroots group that he said “stirred the hornet’s nest” for political gain during the last aldermanic election and “skewed the narrative to make (the city) look irresponsible.”
“Up until then, there had been only one complaint … and now it is exploding,” he said, adding that, in the city’s defense, Lowe’s\Cosmopolitan Market, which had previously occupied this large building at the corner of Orchard and Indian Trail, also had trucks in back and cooked inside the building, with no complaints.
“So we figured Hello Fresh was a similar operation and there should not be a problem.”
Hirschberg, who admits her property is “ground zero” in terms of the plant’s impact and of the complaints about it, has logged “countless” texts, emails and calls to Aurora and company officials, and claims the city would not even be listening to residents without the grassroots/political support that helped mobilize other residents.
“For two years I felt like I was shouting in the wind,” said Hirschberg, who has tried to solve the problems with new windows, medical-grade air purifiers, duct taping some vents and even changing bedrooms, she said.
“The smell is unbearable,” neighbor Sandra Orozco stated at a recent Aurora City Council meeting, where she also complained about the noise and vibrations that have given her migraines and nausea.
“We will keep fighting to make sure something gets done about it,” Fifth Ward resident Nate Pichler declared at the meeting, saying that sensors from the Environmental Protection Agency have shown high levels of air pollution caused by diesel fumes in nearby homes.
Franco told me he feels bad for these residents but insisted “the city is doing all we can to make it better,” and that the company is also responding to demands from Aurora officials.
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Some of the more than $1 million in changes to the facility include installing a sound barrier along the southern end of the property, with construction beginning Monday, as well as repairing broken cement in back of the property that Franco says will cut down on the vibrations.
He also points to Hello Fresh cutting back its cooking hours and upgrading its cleaning protocols and factory exhaust system. But those I spoke with say they have yet to smell or feel an improvement. (I checked with my friend hours before turning this story in and she described the odor that morning as “horrible.”)
In September, Franco said the city will reevaluate these steps to see if they are working, admitting there is “reality” in what these residents are saying, but also noting that when living next to a commercial area, “problems can arise.”
He also blames the noise issue on Orchard Road itself, which has seen a significant increase in traffic, particularly from trucks. And he hopes sound barriers that are planned for all the fenced areas along this busy roadway will have a positive impact.
Franco is convinced even if “things are not resolved, it will definitely get better.” But Hirschberg believes that statement “speaks to what the city thinks is acceptable,” which she said simply is not good enough.
“We moved into a residential community adjacent to a shopping center,” she said. “We did not sign up for this.”
dcrosby@tribpub.com