To the Editor,
Contacting you on behalf of Save Southwick, a citizens-group dedicated to preventing a Carvana vehicle processing facility from building on 137.7 acres of farmland on Tannery Road & College Highway (Routes 10/202) in Southwick, Massachusetts.
The portion of property to be paved over in the Carvana special permit request is 65.7 acres of farmland. This plan includes a parking lot 4 times larger than Gillette Stadium, as well as, a 200,000 sq ft building, fueling areas, car washes.
Carvana representatives revealed the facility would generate, on a daily basis, 90 double-deck commercial car-carrier trips and 2,664 passenger-vehicle trips into and out of the location. As Southwick has no direct highway access, majority of traffic to the site will come through Westfield, likely from the Mass Pike and Route 20.
Citizens of Westfield will be impacted if the Southwick Planning Board approves the Special Permit to allow Carvana to build on this site. Increased traffic, from College Highway in Southwick, into and through Westfield to the Mass Pike would impact single-lane roads of S. Maple St, Pleasant Street, roads around Park Square and Elm Street.
Homeowners, schools, businesses along this route, commuters and school bus routes will all be negatively affected by the increased traffic. Wear on roadways and bridges, including the Cowles Bridge and Great River Bridges, will be expedited by the Carvana traffic.
I am inviting all to attend a special public hearing on the Carvana proposal by the Southwick Planning Board to hear first-hand the opposition to this plan by your neighbors in Southwick and the impact to our community and yours.
The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 20th at 6 p.m. at the Southwick High School (93 Feeding Hills Road).
You can learn more about Save Southwick, Carvana’s proposal, and the many reasons we feel it is a poor fit for our region at https://www.savesouthwick.com
Diane Gardner
Southwick
