Westfield City Hall
WESTFIELD – A public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 16 during the Planning Board meeting in City Council Chambers for a special permit, site plan approval and stormwater permit for a proposed warehouse and truck repair shop on Medeiros Way.
According to the application, prepared by Project Engineer Kimberly M. Masiuk of Associated Builders, Inc. of South Hadley; the applicant, Brockway Transport, Inc., is a family owned and operated trucking company and semi-truck repair shop, currently located on Cottage Street in Springfield. Typical hours of operation for the company are between 4-6 a.m. through 3-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and through noon on Saturdays. The entire application is available on the city website under pending applications in the Planning Department., which is the permitting authority.
Brockway Transport is proposing to develop a vacant lot on the south side of Medeiros Way in order to relocate their facility to Westfield in a larger building that can also accommodate warehousing.
The proposed site is zoned Industrial A, and described as a 6.262 acre, vacant, undeveloped lot with frontage on Medeiros Way. The site is bounded by Fastenal located at 121 Medeiros Way to the east, an electrical substation to the west, Medeiros Way to the north, and Home Depot Distribution to the south.
The application states that most of the site is an open field with a few trees, and the remaining land is covered by forest.
Work for the proposed new facility includes construction of a 15,675 square foot warehouse, office and truck repair facility with associated earthwork, paved parking and driveway, utility connections, a stormwater management system, site lighting and landscaping for Phase I of the project. Phase 2 includes construction of a 26,600 sf warehouse addition within five years.
The existing lot is described as having 0% impervious coverage. The project will add 119,518 sf of impervious coverage, on 43.8% of the lot. According to the application, the site is not within 100’ of a wetland, or 200’ of a stream or river, nor within the floodplain district.
The proposed facility will be concrete slab on grade, 26’ tall, pre-engineered metal building frame with exterior walls consisting of a mix of exterior insulation and finish systems and metal panels. The building has been designed to accommodate mixed, non-separated use groups consisting of business for the office area and moderate hazard storage for the warehouse and truck repair.
Strategic landscaping has been provided to soften the appearance of the proposed structure, enhance the appearance of the property and provide screening in strategic locations to reduce the visibility of utility service and loading areas, according to the application, which also states that trip generation rates, including for the proposed expansion, show an expected maximum increase in daily vehicle trip ends of 449 weekday trips.
Brockway Transport wants to begin construction of phase one in fall of 2019 and complete construction before the end of summer 2020. They expect to construct the future addition roughly five years after completion of Phase 1, according to the application, which also states that the proposed facility will employ roughly 20 – 25 employees and will generate tax revenue for the city.
On July 8 the City Council had a public hearing on a special permit for Old Dominion Freight Lines for a truck terminal on Medeiros Way, one of the categories which falls under the City Council as the permitting authority.
At the hearing, a dozen area residents, including Councilors Mary Ann Babinski and Dave Flaherty expressed their concerns about the impact of adding another trucking facility on the north side.
At the end of the meeting, the public hearing was closed, and the special permit sent to the Zoning, Planning and Development sub-committee, chaired by At-large Councilor Nicholas J. Morganelli, Jr., for a recommendation to the whole City Council.
