WESTFIELD – Earlier this month, Hampden County Superior Court Judge Richard J. Carey ruled in favor of the city of Westfield’s Zoning Board of Appeals, rejecting an appeal filed by Cross Street residents two years ago.
But many in the city are still wondering whether the reason for the appeal – a proposed 96,000 square foot school building to be erected on the site of the former Ashley Street school – is still too big for it’s designated plot.
Carey ruled that the ZBA’s decision was legal and awarded the city summary judgment on June 18, over two years after the board voted to grant a dimensional special permit to the city on November 16, 2011.
The dimensional special permit is required because two wings of the school are less than 20 feet from the west side property line. City ordinance in a residence B zone requires a side yard setback of at least 20 feet.
The city purchased land from the St. Peter and St. Casimir Church to bring the setback into compliance with city zoning ordinances. The argument that because the church kept an easement, that land should not be included in the setback calculation, was rejected by Carey in his decision.
While the impending closures of the Juniper Park, Abner Gibbs, and Franklin Avenue Elementary Schools has necessitated the construction of a new school large enough to fit 600-plus students, the building’s size is the very source of contention among neighbors.
Among the most vocal opponents of the school is Thomas Smith, a Holyoke resident whose mother lives on Cross Street and who led the initial 10-person lawsuit against the city in 2011, citing Article 97 in the Massachusetts Constitution, which allows cities and towns to set aside alternate land in return for the use of protected land, so long as the swapped site is “land of equal utility.”
Ward 4 City Councilor Mary O’Connell, who has been painted as an opponent of the project, said she understands the need, but has her reservations.
“I’m more against the process,” she said, adding that she questions whether the City Council took shortcuts to approve the project, and felt that the Cross Street contingent didn’t get “a fair chance to voice their opposition.”
“I don’t think it’s a great site for the school. I think the building is too big for the site,” she said. “But if the processes were all followed, and things were done legally, I accept that this is school department jurisdiction. I’m not fighting the school per se.”
“Early on the Mayor said that this school plan is perfect for this lot, and that we will not be forced to take any neighboring property to make it fit,” O’Connell said. “Then almost immediately he puts forth a motion to council to take neighboring properties. Does it fit well? I’m not an architect, but it doesn’t appear to my untrained eye (to fit well).”
O’Connell has been told that the building will be as tall as Fenway Park’s Green Monster and reiterated her stance.
“I think there was some misinformation on applications that gave us permission to build that building,” she said. “If everything is legal, good for them, but common sense doesn’t indicate that this (building) is good for this lot.”
Westfield Mayor Daniel M. Knapik, who ran on a platform advocating for the building of the new school, downplays the opinions of those questioning it’s size.
“It’s not a lot of people. It really isn’t,” said Knapik, himself a Ward 2 resident. “Look at the poll returns between (Michael) Roeder and myself in Ward 2B, the ward where that school is slated to be. Mr. Roeder was a clear opponent (of the school) and he lost handily in that precinct.”
“If it’s too big, it wouldn’t have passed the planning board’s site approval,” he said. “We didn’t have to abridge or get any special permits for the site, so it’s an opinion that it’s too big. The fact of the matter is, it met all of the spacial requirements for approval, it is within the zoning for that neighborhood with it’s height.”
Knapik stated that the nearby Alice Burke Apartment building measures out to between 30,000 and 40,000 square feet and has multiple stories.
“As far as the population of the school goes, it is consistent with Southampton Road, Highland, Munger and Papermill. All are in the neighborhood of a 500 to 550 capacity,” he said, addressing the school’s population concerns and adding that Highland and Southampton Road each required additions to accommodate more students.
Ward 2 City Councilor and retired educator Ralph Figy is a proponent of the building.
“If we didn’t have a lawsuit by the Cross Street people, we would be all set and the building would be almost done,” he said before referencing the building’s size. “It passed all the boards. It has got all the permits, so everything is there and it is all legal.”
“I don’t know why they think it’s too big, other than that they took that one ball field away,” Figy said. “That is the ‘T’ that wasn’t crossed and the ‘I’ that wasn’t dotted in the whole application process.”
He added that many urban schools are being built on small footprints today.
“It’s not a mega-school – it’s a model school,” he said. “It’s going to have different wings for different age groups. It’s going to be like three smaller schools within a school.”
Westfield School Superintendent Dr. Suzanne Scallion believes the school’s population and size are non-issues.
“We have schools that already have over 500 kids in them now. We’re talking about a capacity of 50 more than that,” she said, remarking at the proposed building’s efficiency. “It’s set up to have clusters of 200 students each, so you could essentially have a kindergarten/first grade area. It’s not like we’re going to have 600 students running around this building.”
Scallion added that she has visited schools in western Massachusetts with similar construction to the proposed Ashley Street building and said that she doesn’t believe the school’s design is too big.
“The site was selected before I got here, but all across America, schools are being put in tight, urban settings because we want proximity to where kids live,” she said. “Over time, the cost to transport these kids is going to be in the millions and millions and millions of dollars, and cities are trying to reduce those costs by having kids walk.”
“There are two different types of classrooms we can use – we can have portables or modulars,” she said. “They’re beautiful. They aren’t like the trailers we used at the Voke. We’ll make the best of it until we’re ready.”
“It will likely start in the spring of 2015, and you can go on 12-18 months after that. We’re probably looking at Christmastime 2016,” Knapik said regarding the school’s timetable for opening. “The Superintendent has procured the services of an architect to help guide her team to what the final disposition will be for the kids at Juniper. We have a whole year to plan that.”
“We’ll be developing a request for proposal (RFP) for space and it will go out shortly. We’ll see what comes back and we’ll take it from there,” Scallion said, adding that she hopes for the proposals to be out August 1.
