SOUTHWICK – The Southwick Select Board made their decision on Nov. 28 that they would not exercise their right of first refusal to purchase the Southwick Country Club property. As a result, Fiore Realty LLC, the second party, can purchase the land. Fiore Realty will continue to work on their plan to develop single family homes for the acreage that is the Southwick Country Club as the process of the property sale continues.
Dick Fiore, who is the Vice President of Fiore Realty, has reported that his initial and current plan for the property would be to build anywhere from 45 to 50 single family homes, most likely middle income. Mentioning that those numbers could change depending on zoning requirements and other elements the town would want to look at, he expressed his interest in bigger-sized lots.
“It seems to me that that’s the sweet spot for real estate right now,” said Fiore.
According to Fiore at this time, he would be purchasing the 110-acre property for $1.8 million, which is in the first closing of the purchase agreement, since there are multiple closings.
With the potential of all of these added homes and people, what are the benefits and drawbacks to the town? A number of town officials spoke to the Westfield News and give their opinion of the potential impacts this development will have on some town services.
“I believe our town departments can easily absorb what we’re looking at,” said Select Board Vice Chairman Joe Deedy.
Deedy added that he’s seen a number of subdivisions come through the town and doesn’t see a negative impact.
Southwick Country Club. (WNG File Photo)
Looking at specific municipalities, fire and police are integral parts of the community and the possibility of added homes and people could leave an impact one way or another.
“That doesn’t drive a dramatic increase,” said Select Board Chairman Doug Moglin. “It’s really not that much more.”
Fire Chief Russ Anderson and police Chief David Ricardi each commented on potential impacts to their departments.
“It’s not going to have a real big effect on our call volume,” said Anderson. “I think the return outweighs the expense of increased need.”
But, Ricardi does see an increase in traffic happening and the chance that staff may need to be increased for calls and traffic on College Hwy.
“It would definitely affect us public safety wise,” said Ricardi. “We all answer the medical calls, that’s a whole new game that’s got to be covered.”
While public safety officials in town are preparing for the potential addition of residents, the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District is also gearing up for their arrival. Superintendent Jen Willard is in favor of the development and sees it as a benefit for the district.
“It would be great for the schools,” said Willard. “We keep having a declining enrollment, and for us, the additional neighborhood would be great for the schools.”
Willard goes further on to say that the increase of students to the district would be a positive effect that wouldn’t impact them financially either.
“We still want to maintain the same number of opportunities for our students,” Willard added. “With the additional families moving in, we could be able to absorb those children into our schools but also have the additional benefit of additional chapter 70 funding.”
