Margarita Blanter inquired about a possible permit to open an adult day health facility that would be located at 43 Hudson Drive during a Southwick Planning Board meeting earlier this week.
SOUTHWICK – Serenity Care, Inc., an adult day health center, is hoping to expand to Southwick in the coming months.
The planning board held a public hearing on the facility’s application this week and said it would likely approve a special permit at its Sept. 3 meeting. Board Chiarman Douglas Moglin said they could not approve the permit at the hearing because it needed written statements from the fire, police and public works departments.
Serenity Care’s Chief Financial Officer Margarita Blanter participated in the hearing along with Robert Levesque of R. Levesque Associates and Brendan Greeley of R.J. Greeley Associates. The adult day health center is proposed for 43 Hudson Drive. Levesque offered drawings of the proposed center, which is set on two acres of property.
An existing building would be utilized and a gravel lot would be paved.
“It will have two entries,” said Levesque. “One for the clinic, and one for the adult day health.”
The clinic would be only for clients said Blanter. Parking for 28 vehicles is included in the design, which Levesque said is more than the expected 25 vehicles per day. Blanter was asked how many staff would be on site.
“We have a 1:6 ratio of staff to patients, so it depends on the needs,” said Blanter.
Levesque said they made an assumption of 16 employees for the design. The building will have a fire suppression system installed. Abutting property owner Paul Tobias asked about runoff once the lot is paved.
“The rear parking lot would also be tar,” he said. “Is the runoff accounted for because that would run straight into my property.”
Levesque said there are two leeching basins there and runoff would not be a problem for Tobias. Greeley said he was concerned with the continuation to Sept. 3 because Serenity Care is set to close on the parcel at the end of August.
While the board could not guarantee a permit would be granted, members did reassure the applicants that they would likely give the stamp of approval.
“This looks good,” said member Robert Johnson. “It’s a clean spot. (The continuance) is logistics.”
The current property owner is Gerald Mongeau, who purchased the land previously owned by Tilcon, in 2001 for $82,000. A 9,900 square-foot building was built in 2004 and the property is currently valued at $530,000.
