WESTFIELD – Construction of new commercial buildings on a former car dealership property will have little impact on the 11.36 acre site because most of the property has already been paved.
Consultant Rob Levesque of R. Levesque Associates, Inc., said the construction of three new retail buildings totaling 32,480 square feet will disturb less than 10 percent of the site at 99 Springfield Street.
“It’s under the 10 percent disturbance threshold of the Rivers Protection Act,” Levesque said during his presentation to the Conservation Commission last night.
Levesque said that 13,597–square feet of the total site will be disturbed under the calculations which exclude soil disturbance relative to stormwater manager systems construction.
Levesque said one of the new buildings, located in the southwest corner of the property, is partially within the regulatory 200 feet of the Westfield River. That building straddles the 200 foot line with the southern-facing wall about 165 feet from the river.
The commission voted to continue the public hearing to their March 25 session and conduct a site visit to inspect the property before closing the hearing.
In other business the Conservation Commission voted to allow two projects with the condition that a silt fence be erected during the work to protect nearby wetlands.
The board approved the petition submitted by Tina and William Baysinger of 210 Loomis St., to replace a failing septic system.
Tina Baysinger said the present 1,000-gallontank is collapsing and will be removed and replaced by a 1,500-gallon tank and that the leech field will be oriented toward the front of the property and away from the resource area behind the house. The commission will require a silt fence until the work is done and the disturbed area under new vegetation.
The board also approved installation of a removable dock at 17 New Broadway after determining that the impact will not trigger a full notice of intend because of the seasonal usage of the dock. The board did vote to require a silt fence during construction and the initial installation of the dock.
