WESTFIELD—The city’s planning board is expected to hear a proposal for a possible Dollar General on Southampton Road next week.
A hearing with the Westfield Planning Board is scheduled for Aug. 15 on a proposed new Dollar General retail store at 627 Southampton Road. The proposal with the applicant name “Westfield DG, LLC” on the pending application, is for a parcel of land currently being used by Hometown Structures. This proposed location is roughly across the street from a previously-proposed Dollar General development also on Southampton Road that was denied by the planning board late last year said city planner Jay Vinskey.
“It’s basically across the street from where it was proposed,” Vinskey said. “More or less the same site plan but mirrored.”
Jay Vinskey, city planner for Westfield
According to a letter from Bohler Engineering contained within the application, the proposed location is at the northeast corner of Southampton Road and Egleston Road, and is for an approximately 7,500 square foot Dollar General retail store located on about 1.18 acres of land. Among items in the proposal are for 30 parking spaces and operation times of 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week.
In addition, a driveway permit is to be required from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), the letter said, and the “anticipated peak hour vehicles do not meet MassDOT thresholds for further traffic analysis.”
According to Vinskey, the lot is “being carved out” of the parcel that Hometown Structures currently owns.
Andrew Kurtz, owner of Hometown Structures, said that their lot is currently six acres and the entirety of the land wasn’t “necessarily being used to its potential” as the company continues to grow across the state and online. So, they agreed to an offer proposed for about one acre of land, he said.
“It’s not something that we pursued in any way, they came to us. At first we weren’t interested but then they made us an offer that was good, so we decided that we would take advantage of that,” Kurtz said.
Requests for comment from the applicant, Westfield DG, LLC, had not been received by publication deadline.
Previously, the planning board voted to deny a special permit for a Dollar General location on Southampton Road in December 2016. The special permit requested that a store be built that was about 7,500 square feet in commercial A zoning; that zoning allows for 5,000 square feet without a special permit. According to an article from The Westfield News after that December meeting, the special permit was denied due to concerns that included location and traffic.
Vinskey said that for this location, the proposal more appropriately fits the zoning, which is business A and its use is by-right.
“I think it’s a little more appropriate on this side, as this side is business and industrial,” he said.
“[The planning board] can’t deny the use so long as the site plan is acceptable,” Vinskey said. “The way it’s arranged they pretty much have to approve it.”
Vinskey added that potential changes could occur to the site plan are items such as lighting or landscaping.
The planning board meets Tuesday, Aug. 15, starting at 7 p.m.
