Rob Levesque of R. Levesque Assoc. addresses City Council. (photo by Amy Porter)
WESTFIELD –The same night they accepted Old Dominion Freight lines’ request to withdraw its application for a truck terminal without prejudice, the City Council held public hearings for two more north end business proposals, and scheduled a public hearing at the Planning Board for a proposal to move all special permit requests to that body.
During public participation, Constance Adams of Root Road, who celebrated the withdrawal of Old Dominion, said she was opposed to moving the responsibility for such special permits out of the City Council. “We the citizens of Westfield elect the City Council. We expect you to listen to us. The Planning Board is appointed, not elected, and is very pro-business,” Adams said.
Before the vote to accept Old Dominion’s letter, At-large Councilor Brent B. Bean, II spoke about his motion to table the vote on the special permit from the last meeting. “Some of the residents were under the impression that we would table it to let the clock run out,” Bean said, adding that is not ethical, and that wasn’t his intention.
“A lot of people outside the city watch how we did business,” Bean said. He said Old Dominion tried to comply, but there was one condition proposed for their permit that they couldn’t abide. “We need businesses to try to work out these details,” Bean said.
Ward I Councilor Mary Ann Babinski said the decision and the comments of many of the residents don’t mean anyone thought Old Dominion wasn’t a great company. She said there are an overabundance of trucks in Ward 1, and cited a private traffic study done by a resident that found 13,000 vehicles a day on Southampton Road. She said many residents told her that for all that they put up with, the offset in taxes wasn’t worth it. Babinski also said she hopes that Old Dominion finds a good fit.
“We don’t need to be overburdened any more. It’s time we look at other options,” Babinski said, with some pushback from other councilors, as both Ward 2 Councilor Ralph J. Figy and Ward 3 Councilor Andrew K. Surprise said they have plenty of traffic in their wards as well.
During a public hearing for a contractor’s yard at 415 North Road, Rob Levesque of R. Levesque Assoc. said the business owner, Ryan Geeleher, was looking to reuse the existing facility for the same purpose as the previous owner who had passed away. He said the previous owner had a special permit issued in 1989.
Levesque said the business is over the aquifer, which they carefully considered. He said there is a fuel storage tank under the permit, with an underground holding tank, so nothing is released into the groundwater.
Babinski asked if the previous owner had gone through the Barnes Aquifer permitting authority for the tank, which Levesque said they had.
At-large Councilor Dan Allie asked what materials would be in the contractor’s yard. Levesque said there would be heavy equipment, and materials coming and going from excavation, but that nothing would be stored in the yard. He said the previous business had 40 to 50 trucks when it was operating at full capacity, but the new business would be smaller.
Levesque added that conditions related to the storage tank are very specific.
Opening the hearing to the public, Constance Adams asked whether the previous owner’s condition to only turn right on North Road would be met. Levesque said the business would drive where they are told they can.
Council President John J. Beltrandi, III said this will be a decrease in truck traffic from the previous business.
At-large Councilor Matthew Emmershy noted that there were a number of dumpsters formerly on the site. Levesque said only a portion of them would remain.
Adams returned to the podium to speak in favor of the project, saying she is not anti-business, as the council must think after her opposition to the Old Dominion truck terminal. “I’ve been in business most of my life, and I’m running a farm as a business. I applaud these guys for starting a business on an existing site, and it sounds like they’re doing things the right way. I’m happy to be in favor,” Adams said, adding she just hopes they will not start the trucks too early in the morning.
With no opposition, the public hearing was closed, and the special permit referred to Zoning, Planning and Development.
Beltrandi excused himself from the meeting for the second public hearing which involved a zoning change request for property at 230 Southampton Road purchased by his company, Mercer Island Realty.
Levesque said they had recently received permission from the Planning Board to split the property into three lots. He said currently the property is zoned Residence A and Business A, and they were asking to extend the Business A zoning over two of the lots, with the intention of retaining one of the lots as Residence A.
Levesque said any traffic issues would be dealt with at the time of the special permit request. He said as part of the zone change, the house, which sits on the divided Business A lot could remain or could be demolished. He said the two Business A lots would be sold together. “Any business use could go there,” Levesque said.
At-large Councilor Cindy C. Harris said she attended the Planning Board hearing, and said the board was extremely conscientious about the request to split the property into three lots. “They paid close attention and asked pertinent questions,” Harris said, adding that they were extremely positive about the request.
“I did hear from some residents who were there. They left uneasy about what kind of business could go there,” said Babinski. She asked what is by right for Business A, admitting that the zoning change would be consistent with that block of Southampton Rd.
Emmershy asked if it were to be split into two parcels in Business A, would there be enough frontage to be compliant. Levesque said there would, and neighbors were mostly concerned about getting out of Sunset Drive, one of the roads bordering the parcels. He said any viable businesses would want to face Southampton Rd. (Route 10-202). Levesque also said MassDOT is currently looking at the corridor.
With no further questions, the public hearing was closed, and the zone change referred to ZPD.
Later in the meeting, the request by the Ad Hoc Business Development Committee to review the city ordinances as they relate to special permit granting authority was referred to the Planning Board to schedule a public hearing.
