WESTFIELD – The Planning Board voted 5-0-2 Tuesday night to approve the site plan, storm water management plan, and a special permit for the Cumberland Farms store at the corner of Southampton and North roads.
The applicant needed all five of the board members eligible to vote in favor of the special permit required for dispensing fuel at the 4,500 square foot convenience store because special permits require a super majority of the seven member board. Two members were not qualified to vote on that special permit because they had not attended all of the public hearing sessions held over the past two months.
The board also attached eight-pages of findings and conditions to the permits that require the convenience store chain to submit a number of annual reports to the city detailing maintenance of the storm water management facilities.
Cumberland Farms, represented before the board by Attorney Thomas Murphy and Project Manager Patrick O’Leary, P.E. of Vanasse Hangen Brustlin (VHB) and on behalf of the developer, First Hartford Realty Corp., of Manchester, Conn., which will sell the land and building, when completed, to Cumberland Farms corporation, is required under the condition to file the storm water management plan with the Hampden Registry of Deeds.
Another condition prohibit the use of the diesel pumps by commercial tractor trailer trucks because of the limited area on of the 1.17 acre site. The board also is requiring VHB to submit printed sets of the site plan and to submit “as built” plans after construction is complete.
Construction must be completed within 18 months of the building permit being issues. Work on the project cannot begin until a pre-construction conference has been held between the applicant, the contractor, project engineer and appropriate city officials, including the City Planner, Engineer, Stormwater Coordinator and Conservation Coordinator.
The Conservation Commission issued Orders of Conditions last week related to both the construction phase of the project and then operation of the convenience store/gas station. The conditions require the builder to submit erosion control plans to prevent damage to the wetlands, located along North Road behind the store, during the construction phase.
The conditions also require Cumberland Farms to submit incident reports in the event of a fuel spill at the pumps to the commission, annual outfall testing of the drainage system for hydrocarbons and maintenance for the fuel tanks, pumps and sumps , as well as for the drainage system which include facilities to prevent fuel products for being discharged into wetlands. The store chain will also have to submit a storm water pollution prevention plan to the Conservation Commission for its review and approval.
“The special conditions of the order of conditions mostly pertain to the storm water and discharge into the wetlands,” Conservation Coordinator Karen Leigh said. “The commission is requiring them to post a $20,000 bond because of the sensitivity of the wetland area and because all of the storm water collected on the site is being discharged into those wetlands.”
An application is pending before the City Council’s License Committee is for the two underground fuel tanks that will store 32,000 gallons of gasoline and 8,000 gallons of diesel fuel. That committee has been waiting for the Conservation Commission and Planning Board to complete their review processes and issues conditions which will then be attached to the City Council license.
