WESTFIELD – The Zoning, Planning & Development Committee of the City Council voted last night to further amend a zoning amendment to allow the manufacture of plastic products in the city’s Industrial A zone, by special permit issued through the Planning Board.
The debate on allowing plastic manufacturing, but not the manufacturing of plastic, in both the Planning Board and City Council is if it should require a special permit or be a by-right use. The special permit requires a public hearing and provides for much greater scrutiny of a proposal.
The manufacture of plastic products, using the extrusion of pre-manufactured plastic pellets, is currently allowed as a by-right use on the Business B zoning district under certain conditions, but is prohibited entirely in the Industrial A district.
Plastic extrusion or molding companies are allowed in Business B if they have fewer than 50 employees or a facility of less than 50,000 square feet and are allowed with more than 50 employees or 50,000 square feet by special permit.
Principal Planner Jay Vinskey urged the ZP&D Committee to adopt a local ordinance which would encourage plastic manufacturers to locate in the Industrial A district.
“It’s really not a use you want in your Business B district where you have offices, stores, restaurants,” Vinskey said. “It’s a use that is consistent with the Industrial A district and should be allowed there.”
Vinskey also argued that it should be no more onerous to locate a plastic manufacturer in the Industrial A zone than it currently is in the Business B Zone, with a similar special permit trigger based upon the number of employees and square footage of the facility.
Ward 6 Councilor Chris Crean, who presented the amendment petition to allow plastic manufacturing, was adamant that it should be a by-right use and that the plastic industry is so tightly regulated by state (DEP) and federal environmental (EPA) and employee safety (OSHA) agencies that additional local oversight is not needed.
At-large Councilor David Flaherty, ZP&D chairman, argued that local oversight is needed to control those facilities. Flaherty said that some communities allow the storage of trailer trucks full of the plastic pellets and recycles shreds which could pose a considerable risk to emergency responders and residents if they were to accidentally burn.
“Plastic fires happen and if plastic burns it’s a major problem. Does our Fire Department have the equipment, training to deal with that kind of fire?” Flaherty asked. “What measures would a company be required to take to filter their manufacturing area so plastic dust is not being emitted into the air? Those are the questions that should be answered during a special permit process.”
Flaherty said that the Planning Board rejected one recommendation to approve the amendment as a by-right change, and then voted to approve a recommendation that would require a special permit review process.
“At the City Council’s public hearing, members of the public and several City Council members also supported the special permit review,” Flaherty said. “I don’t see it as a restriction.”
