Business

New retailer coming to Westfield

WESTFIELD—A new retailer will be coming to Southampton Road in Westfield after the planning board voted to approve the plans during their meeting last week.

The city’s planning board voted to approve the proposal for a Dollar General at 627 Southampton Road last Tuesday, concluding a public hearing and discussion that began on Aug. 15. It is the second proposal for a Dollar General in that area of Southampton Road, with the first one seeking a special permit from the planning board that failed. The construction for the site can begin following the 20-day appeal period, according to Jay Vinskey, city planner.

Jay Vinskey, city planner for Westfield

The proposal that was approved is for an approximately 7,500 square-foot location that will be on about a 1.1-acre portion of land Hometown Structures owns on Southampton Road. According to a previous article in The Westfield News:

“Andrew Kurtz, owner of Hometown Structures, said that their lot is currently six acres and the entirety of the land wasn’t ‘necessarily being used to its potential’ as the company continues to grow across the state and online. So, they agreed to an offer proposed for about one acre of land, he said.

The store, according to the previous proposal, will operate from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. In addition, there are expected to be 30 parking spaces and the expected traffic during peak hours did not meet Massachusetts Department of Transportation “threshold for further traffic analysis,” according to a letter from Bohler Engineering in the proposal that was online.

The planning board voted to approve the proposal, but according to Vinskey the board did set conditions for the project.

Among the conditions Vinskey said was that the lights of the store were to be turned off 30 minutes after closing. Another condition was that fencing that was initially expected to be around a front detention basin would not be put in.

In addition to these conditions, Vinskey said that the board made a recommendation that salt materials not be used for ice in the parking lot and fertilizer use be limited.

Several members of the planning board voiced concern during the meeting of the use of chemicals near the aquifer, which drew the recommendation.

“I think the planning board is trying to be proactive with this issue and we’re hoping that corporations will appreciate our concerns and try to work with us,” Carl Vincent, planning board member, said during the meeting.

 “I want to do what’s right for everybody with this condition,” Jane Magarian, planning board member, said during the meeting. “I don’t live up there but I know people that do and it’s a dire situation.”

One of the representatives from Dollar General at the meeting said that they would go back to Dollar General with the request.

According to Vinskey, the recommendation was not a condition in the end because it was not within the appropriate zone in the city.

“This is not in the aquifer zone so the jurisdiction and the criteria for reviewing it don’t apply,” Vinskey said.

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