MATT VANHEYNIGEN
WESTFIELD – The Planning Board reviewed the Elm Street Urban Renewal Plan, recently adopted by the Westfield Redevelopment Authority for the proposed Elm Street project, and voted to endorse the document that will now go to the City Council for its review.
City Advancement Officer and WRA Executive Director Jeff Daley said the urban renewal plan was created for a mixed-use development project “that has been kicked around since the late 1990’s to do something with this project.”
“This is the first urban renewal plan proposal that has gotten this far, where a vote is needed,” Daley said. “There is no requirement that the Planning Board conduct a public hearing. The City Council will do that, most likely at its May 16 meeting.”
Daley said the purview of the Planning Board is to ensure that the urban renewal plan is consistent with the “Rethinking Downtown” revitalization master plan adopted by the city in 2009.
The Elm Street Urban Renewal Plan encompass both sides of Elm Street, roughly from the City Hotel alley to Thomas Street on the east side of Elm Street and between Arnold and Church streets on the west side of Elm Street.
The urban renewal plan was developed to enable the WRA to pull property between Arnold and Church streets together for a public-private project that will include a publicly funded transportation element and a multistory parking garage to support a privately-funded mixed use, multistory building with retail and commercial office space. The WRA, under state law, can take property through the eminent domain process to assemble a project site and can structure financing for projects.
The plan was prepared by Maureen Hayes, a Springfield based consultant, who identified the renewal plan target area, 4.88 acres on both sides of Elm Street. The target area includes the 2.86 acre site of the proposed multi-use commercial building at the corner of Elm and Arnold streets, the 2,000-square-foot transportation facility on Arnold Street and the parking garage, which could have as many as six levels, on Church Street. The size of the commercial building, which could have space for retail stores and office spaces, as well as residential space, will be determined by the private developer selected by the WRA for the project.
Planning Board member Matt VanHeynigen was on the “Rethinking Downtown” committee to solicit responses from city residents, business and downtown property owners through a series of public meetings and surveys. The Committee, with a University of Massachusetts consultant, developed the concept of “Live, Work, Play” to revitalize the downtown.
“This (Elm Street Urban Renewal) Plan reflects very much of that effort, trying to capture business, residential and transportation components,” VanHeynigen said before making the motion for the board to endorse the renewal plan on the basis that it is “based on a local survey and conforms to the comprehensive plan for the locality as a whole.”
The motion was approved by a 5-0 vote of the Planning Board and will be presented to the City Council tomorrow night and sent to committee for further review prior to a public hearing.
