Ward 4 Councilor Michael Burns chairs the Ad-hoc Business Development committee, which submitted the application for the change in special permit granting authority.
WESTFIELD – Two public hearings are planned this week on the proposal to transfer the special permitting granting authority in non-residential districts from the City Council to the Planning Board. The first hearing will take place during the Planning Board meeting on Tues., Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers; and the second during the City Council meeting on Thurs., Dec. 6 at 7 p.m.
The proposal, which was first introduced by the Ad-hoc Business Development committee, was referred to the Planning Board for a public hearing at the City Council meeting on Oct. 18. The full petition, presented by Ward 4 Councilor Michael Burns who chairs the Ad-hoc committee, is available on the city website at www.cityofwestfield.org/applications, under zoning ordinance amendments.
The amendment seeks to replace all City Council designations with the Planning Board as the Special Permit Granting Authority for the categories listed in the application. Its stated summary of purpose includes shortening the timeframe for filing, which is a minimum of six weeks in the City Council, and two and a half weeks in the Planning Board, according to the application.
Consolidated permitting is another goal, eliminating the need, time and cost for applications to appear before both bodies for certain zoning approvals.
The application also argues that the Planning Board and staff are more experienced reviewers, and regularly review land use applications as well as being well-versed in legal processes and protocols. According to the document, the City Council historically reviews only one or two special permits per year, usually contractor yards.
The proposed zoning amendment would replace the City Council with the Planning Board as permitting authority for new construction of multifamily dwellings which meet area and density requirements; theater, hall, club and other indoor places of amusement, and outdoor places of amusement or assembly.
The proposed zoning amendment also covers motor vehicle sales or rental agencies, and lumber yards, fuel storage plants, truck terminals, motor vehicle storage yards, contractor yards, processing and reclamation of construction materials, and outdoor storage facilities.
Once filed, applications would be referred by the Planning Board to the City Council (currently the other way around in these cases); and to the Conservation Commission, City Engineer, Water Department, Department of Public Works, Board of Health and any other. Burns told the City Council on Oct. 18 that the proposal had been vetted by the Law Department.
The issue came to a head this fall with the application from Old Dominion for a truck terminal on Medeiros Way. During the discussion of the company’s application, which was ultimately withdrawn without prejudice, several councilors expressed their opinions that the City Council did not have the expertise to review such applications.
City Council President John J. Beltrandi, III said that he thought with the significant investment by the company to get it to the point of application, it should have gotten the attention it deserved by the Planning Board.
Several residents that opposed the truck terminal, including Constance Adams of Yellow Stonehouse Farm on Root Road, believe the City Council should not give up its permitting authority. In several appearances during public participation at City Council, and in a letter to the editor this weekend, Adams said she believes that elected officials should be accountable for these decisions.
“We the citizens of Westfield elect the City Council. We expect you to listen to us. The Planning Board is appointed, not elected, and is very pro-business,” Adams said at the City Council meeting on Oct. 18.
Councilor Burns, on the other hand, said later in that same meeting that moving some of these decisions to the Planning Board would take the politics out of it because the Planning Board members are appointed, not elected.
