WESTFIELD – The Planning Board voted last week to allow a revision to the approved site plan for the Cumberland Farms store at the intersection of Southampton and North roads.
The petition request the board’s permission to remove a small traffic island inside the property near the fuel pumping islands and to replicate the landscaping being removed elsewhere on the site.
The request was submitted by Mark Grocki, P.E. Sr. Project Engineer at VHB, Cumberland Farms engineering consultant
“Our client has asked us to review the current condition of the landscaping at the newly constructed Cumberland Farms site at the corner of Southampton Rd and North Rd in Westfield,” Grocki said in the letter to the Planning Board.
“The current issue is that the customers using the facility are driving up and over the 6’ x 26’ landscape island located directly south of the gas dispensing pumps,” Grocki said. “Efforts to repair this damage have been unsuccessful as customers continuously drive over the island.”
”Understanding plantings and vegetation are an important aspect of site development, rather than completely remove the plantings from this area, VHB respectfully requests to re-distribute the proposed trees and shrubs that are intended to be planted in this landscaped island to other areas of the site,” Grocki said. “The landscaped island will be replaced with bituminous pavement.”
Landscaping was a significant part of the conditions attached to the site plan and special permit by the Planning Board.
“The board gave its approval to remove the island and to replicate the landscaping, which included a tree,” Vinskey said. “That landscaping will be relocated to the perimeter of the site.”
The Planning Board voted in March of 2013 to approve the site plan, stormwater management plan, and a special permit for the Cumberland Farms store for dispensing fuel at the 4,500 square foot convenience after closing the public hearing which spanned two months.
The board also attached eight pages of findings and conditions to the permits at that time. Those documents that require the convenience store chain to submit a number of annual reports to the city detailing maintenance of the stormwater management facilities and adhere to the specifications of the approved plans.
The original plans included the traffic island which will be removed under the board’s vote to allow modification of the of the site plan.
Cumberland Farms was required under one of the Planning Board conditions to file the stormwater management plan with the Hampden Registry of Deeds.
Another condition prohibits 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 required VHB to submit printed sets of the site plan and to submit “as built” plans after construction was completed.
