WESTFIELD – Two businesses, one that has been a landmark in the city for decades and the other coming into the city, will present details of the petitions to the Planning Board tomorrow night.
The owner of the North Elm Butcher Block at 37 North Elm St., is seeking permits to construct a 1,050-square-foot expansion to the existing building and to reorganize parking and traffic movement within the property.
The special permit and site plan application was submitted by Miller Development of Springfield on behalf of Dan Puza who plans to build a 15-foot-by-70-foot masonry addition to the north face of his building. The addition will allow Puza to expand the retail and kitchen areas, as well as provide space for kitchen equipment including installation of a new walk-in freezer and cooler. The Butcher Block is located in the CORE zone.
The site plan will revamp vehicle and pedestrian movement within the property with the addition of a fence along a section North Elm Street and a new concrete sidewalk along the addition and abutting the North Elm Street sidewalk.
The revamped traffic flow allows vehicles to enter the parking lot from North Elm Street as well as by the Pochassic Street and Union Avenue curb cuts, but prohibits vehicles from exiting the lot directly back to North Elm Street.
Customers will exit the parking area through two existing curb cuts. The Pochassic Street exit allows motorists to access the southbound lane of North Elm Street or go up to Prospect Hill when the new bridge being constructed on the Drug Store Hill section of Pochassic Street is completed.
The exit into the northbound lane of Union Avenue provides access northbound to North Elm and Union streets.
Puza is also seeking a permit to erect a sigh next to the Union Avenue property line that will be visible to northbound traffic.
The other petition, submitted by Baystate Dental P.C., is for a special permit to erect a ground sign at its new location in the city. Baystate, which has offices throughout the region, is expanding into Westfield and opening a practice at 29 Broad St.
The building, located at the corner of Broad and Court Streets, has undergone extensive renovation to convert it into a dental facility.
The property was the proposed location of the Windows on the Green commercial building project and the historic house was slated for demolition before it was purchased by Baystate and extensive modifications made to the structure.
