WESTFIELD – The city’s Zoning Board of Appeals met Tuesday evening to come to a decision on a matter that has become a real sticking point for residents on the north side of town.
Former City Councilor Gerald Tracy had been attempting to get a variance on a 7.3 acre parcel of land owned by his late father-in-law on 0 Dox Road located atop the Barnes Aquifer to subdivide it into eight nearly one-acre lots as per the wishes of a will.
Numerous residents were in attendance to protest the variance, including attorney Mark Beglane, who was on hand representing several residents. The board also received a letter from the Barnes Aquifer Protection Advisory Committee (BAPAC), which recommended the ZBA not grant the variance for eight lots.
Midway through the contentious hearing, Tracy opted to change his application from eight 0.9-acre subdivisions to four 1.8-acre lots, which proved to be something the board could live with.
In a unanimous decision, the ZBA approved Tracy’s application to subdivide the parcel into four lots, saying that rejecting the measure would allow him to build only one less house on the parcel.
Chairman Michael Parent and board members Rick Sullivan III and Gary Bacchiocchi placed some restrictions on the decision.
“We agreed to have a 300-foot buffer in the back of each one of those properties which have to be marked off and left as natural,” said Parent.
The chairman added that these conditions would have to be documented on the deed and that a building inspector would have to have access to the conditions.
Parent said that Tracy does not have to accept the board’s decision but, in the event that he does file the deed, the decision will go into effect.
“In my mind, by restricting the additional acre of land, we’ve at least kept a part of that land, where he conceivably could have gone in and cleared the lots completely for three lots,” he said. “We’re just trying to keep a balance. What will be on the back boundary is 1,200 feet of natural (land) if he does four lots.”
