WESTFIELD – The Planning Board meetings for the month of December have been cancelled while a new interim city planner is contracted.
Anthony J. Petrucelli Jr., Planning Board chairman, said both of the December meetings have been cancelled by Mayor Daniel M. Knapik.
“I got a phone call Monday that our meetings were cancelled until the mayor can get someone from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission to act as city planner,” Petrucelli said this morning.
That action was required because Knapik declined to renew the contract of Larry Smith as the city planner and community development director.
Knapik said last week that he plans to go in a “new direction” and will separate the two positions which were combined in 2008 because of the impact of the Great Recession on the city’s budget.
Smith served as the city planner since 2000 and assumed the title of community development director in 2008.
Knapik will retain the PVTA while a search is initiated for a new city planner, whose primary function is to assist the Planning Board, is initiated.
Petrucelli said the Planning Board members are disappointed by Knapik’s decision not to reappoint Smith.
“All of us are heart-sick,” Petrucelli said. “Larry has been the best planner that I’ve worked with during my tenure on the board. He is very knowledgeable and very polite, an asset to the city.”
The impact of Knapik’s decision to cancel Planning Board meetings is that several major projects and zone changes will languish for another month.
The board had three public hearings slated for this evening, including the 58,000-square-foot addition to the Walmart store at 141 Springfield Road, a change of use submitted by Vellano Servistar, Inc., at 199 Servistar Industrial Way, and a modification of a subdivision special permit to allow for drainage system improvements.
The board was also slated to conduct public hearings on proposed zoning ordinance amendments at its Dec. 20 session.
