WESTFIELD – The Planning Board, returning from its summer hiatus, will continue six public hearings, including two related to zoning issues, the proposed Pioneer Valley Transit Authority project on Arnold Street, two requests by the owner of convenience stores to sell beer and wine, and a request to allow division of a Mechanic Street property for the purpose of constructing a duplex house.
The two zoning issues are both sponsored by members of the City Council. At-large Councilor Dan Allie is seeking to amend the temporary sign ordinance, while Ward 1 Councilor Christopher Keefe is seeking to adopt a zoning to regulate commercial solar farms, which under current state law can be located in any zoning district unless regulated by local zoning codes.
Allie said the current temporary sign ordinance “discriminates against new candidates and favors incumbents.”
“The temporary sign ordinance does not define events and it prevents the exercise of free speech,” Allie said. “Candidates who submit nomination papers, with the correct 50 signatures certified (by the City Clerk) should be allowed to erect signs.”
The current ordinance limits the erection of temporary signs to “no more than two (2) months prior to the event” and that temporary signs “shall not be displayed more than four (4) months in any calendar year.”
The city’s License Commission began its review of two beer and wine sales applications submitted by the owner of two neighborhood variety stores as a convenience for patrons, but the board will have to wait until at least September to make its final decision.
The owners of New Corner Variety on Prospect Hill and the Pleasant Street Market at the downtown intersection of Pleasant, South Main and West Silver streets are seeking a malt and wine license from the commission.
That license petition and review delay is due to a zoning regulation, adopted in 1990, which requires a special permit review by the Planning Board for any business selling alcoholic beverages within 500 feet of a school or church.
License Department Director Denise Carey said the Planning Board requirement has been in place since 1990, but has not been enforced during her tenure with the License Commission and that the issue was recently raised by Principal Planner Jay Vinskey during a round table review of the two variety store applications.
Carey said the License Commission had already slates its agenda and have done legal advertising for the two public hearings and that members decided to conduct a preliminary review of the petitions to ensure compliance with state and city alcoholic-license requirements.
The Pioneer Valley Transit Authority is seeking permits for construction of a proposed 2,700 square-foot transit facility on Arnold Street to the Planning Board Tuesday night. The PVTA is petitioning the Planning Board to approve a special permit, site plan and stormwater management plan.
The PVTA unveiled a modernistic design of a glass and steel building surrounded by a pedestrian-friendly plaza for the Westfield Transit Pavilion to the Planning Board in January and is now making its formal presentation to the board to allow construction of the facility in the city’s CORE district.
The plan calls for extensive landscaping, including a rain garden to mitigate storm water runoff from the property and a subsurface stormwater infiltration system to capture water from the roof of the structure.
The proposed design will be a single story, but will have the height of a two story building; with predominately glass walls to increase energy efficiency.
The steel frame structure will have a mix of metal wall panels and glass walls to allow visibility from and into the facility, which was designed by Reinhardt Associates of Agawam, for security reasons.
The plan includes a 35-foot-high pylon sign that will be visible from Elm Street and will be powered by a solar system.
Volidimir Hryn of Feeding Hills Road is seeking an in-fill special permit to divide an existing lot at the corner of Mechanic and Bartlett streets to allow construction of another duplex house on that lot. The public hearing was continued to allow the applicant to present information on the average area of lots surrounding the property at 77 Mechanic Street, data needed by the board to consider the petition.
