WESTFIELD – The Planning Board voted Tuesday night to allow changes to the Westfield Bank’s East Main Street branch office site plan, changes which will add five parking spaces.
The board members discussed if the changes were sufficient to require a new public hearing or if they was a minor revision to the site plan which the board could approve without a new public hearing.
Board Vice Chairman William Onyski made the motion to accept the site plan change as a “minor revision” which was approved by a 7-0 vote of the members.
The bank submitted the site plan revision to add three spaces in front of the branch office and two spaces to the rear of the building. The rear parking was created by removing a large commercial trash receptacle and the fenced enclosure, creating two additional spaces.
Discussion of the front parking was conducted in much greater detail because the spaces are being created along the front sidewalk and making the circulation route around the building, which has a one-way traffic flow, much tighter in the area where the parking is being added.
The board members also expressed concern that if those spaces would be used for customer parking, it would create a traffic hazard for motorists diving around the building.
“It’s a very tight spot in front where it’s one-way,” Board member Peter Fiordalice said. “If it’s for employee parking, it’s a different circumstance than if it’s for customer parking.”
Principal Planner Jay Vinskey said the bank requested those parking spaces as employee parking, which substantially reduces the movements in and out of those spaces and hence the traffic flow hazard. Moving employee parking to the front of the building opens spaces in the rear parking area for customers, Vinskey said.
“That’s what they submitted,” he said. “It’s a minor modification to the approved plan, but any change to the site plan needs your formal approval.”
Onyski and Matt VanHeynigen questioned if a sign was needed to specifically identify those front spaces as being reserved for employee parking only.
