WESTFIELD – The City Council referred two business-related special applications to its Zoning, Planning & Development Committee last night after hearing details of the projects presented during public hearing.
Matthew Rokosz is seeking a special permit and site plan approval from the City Council to operate two businesses at 264 Lockhouse Road on property owned by his mother Barbara Rokosz. Rokosz is asking to be allowed to operate an open-air storage facility and a firewood retail business.
Attorney Brad Moir, representing Rokosz, said the property is zoned Industrial A and is located in a heavily developed industrial area. The site is across Lockhouse Road from the intersection of Servistar Industrial Way.
“What Matt wants to do is clear off some of the land and do open-air storage for boats, trailers, campers and RVs in the front of the parcel and in the back of the property do retail sale of firewood,” Moir said. “The storage area would be fenced, a six-foot high chain link fence, and would be landscaped.”
Moir said the access drive from Lockhouse Road to the open-air storage facility would be 50-feet long, enough length to accommodate a vehicle with a trailer.
“There would be enough space to get off Lockhouse Road,” Moir said.
The storage area gate would be controlled by a key code or card swipe to allow customers access to their stored property. Moir said the project does not include construction of any type of building.
Rokosz said that he is proposing a facility similar to the one that was on Barnes Regional Airport property that was accessed from Southampton Road. That business closed, which creates the business opportunity for a similar storage facility. The storage facility would be 35,000 square feet in area.
“I’m looking to get 50 to 60 campers, boats, smaller trailers, fifth-wheel trailers, storage mostly during the winter time,” Rokosz said. “I don’t want it to be a used car lot; don’t want big commercial trailers or trucks.”
Moir said that Rokosz also plans to install a stockade fences along the north side of the property where the retail firewood business would be located to provide a buffer for the residents on the lot just north of the Rokosz property.
Council members raised a number of issues, asking if Rokosz planned to pave the open-air storage area, frequently a requirement to protect motor vehicle fluids from seeping into the soil, especially in aquifer recharge zones.
Moir said he had discussed the business with city officials in both the Planning and Building departments and they determined that the Rokosz property is not in an aquifer zone. Barbara Rokosz said that the Barnes Aquifer Protection Advisory Council advocates against paving to allow greater infiltration of stormwater into the soil.
Ward 4 Councilor Mary O’Connell noted that the BAPAC has required paving for business in the past to prevent vehicle fluids from seeping into the soil and that the paved areas are required to have drainage systems that separate vehicle fluids from water before the water is discharged.
Ward 1 Councilor Christopher Keefe, in whose ward the Rokosz businesses would be located, said the council has the ability to attach conditions to restrict the scope of the special permit, such as prohibiting the storage or cars and trucks and hours of operation.
Matthew VanHeynigen, a former member of the Planning Board, said that board routinely attaches findings and conditions to its special permits from a boilerplate format, with special condition added to deal with specific issues. VanHeynigen asked if the City Council has a similar process.
Zoning, Planning & Development Committee Chairman David A. Flaherty said the Rokosz petition will be on the committee agenda for April 30 at 6:30 p.m. Flaherty asked VanHeynigen to attend that meeting to assist the process of identifying concerns and attaching findings and conditions to address those concerns.
