WESTFIELD—Walmart has proposed plans to the city’s planning board to allow for online grocery pick-up at their Westfield location.
The Westfield Planning Board discussed the Walmart plans, as well as the proposed ordinance by At-Large City Councilor Dan Allie to notify abutters of proposed zoning changes within the city during the planning board meeting yesterday. The board voted to OK the ordinance change with amendments, while the Walmart plan was continued so more information could be sought.
DAN ALLIE
The proposal by Allie would modify the zoning ordinances by mandating that property owners whose property is within 300 feet from the border of a property directly affected by a map or parcel change must be notified within 10 days via mail of any public hearings related to the proposals. There is currently no such requirement within zoning, with the exception of special permitting.
“With this people have a chance to voice their opinion rather than finding out after the fact,” Allie had previously said of the proposal.
Several members from the planning board, city council and residents who attended the meeting all spoke in favor of the proposal by Allie.
“I believe that it actually is fair to notify residents, as a resident and landowner, I think that they should be notified,” Rob Levesque said.
Levesque said that he was a resident of Westfield. Levesque also works for R. Levesque Associates, a landscape architecture and civil engineering firm that could be affected by the change if one of their proposals would require a zoning change.
The planning board sent the proposal with a positive recommendation to city council but added two parts to it. One was to have a sign put in at the area of the proposed zoning change that will help to notify residents too, and the other suggestion was to allow for exemptions that can be determined on a case-by-case basis by city council.
Regarding the Walmart proposal, it was initially thought to be a small change for the board to decide upon.
JAY VINSKEY
“It is a relatively minor change, will change circulation a little bit,” Jay Vinskey, city planner, said.
The change would allow for a back door to be put in and additional parking spots near it. This would allow customers to pick up groceries that they order from Walmart online, according to Carl Vincent, planning board member, who said that he viewed the information online during the meeting.
However, it was unclear at the time of the meeting if an employee would bring the groceries to the cars or if people would have to go into the store themselves to grab the groceries.
The board had questions of safety for the plan, and a few members felt that it was more than a minor change.
“I want to see what the traffic flow is, and if they do expand how is that going to be safe,” Cheryl Crowe, planning board member, said. “There’s already problems with traffic in that area.”
Other members voiced concerns about safety, including William Carellas, who voiced concern about a crosswalk in the area and the potential for increased traffic during the Christmas season.
The board requested that additional information be requested and, if possible, a representative from Walmart come and explain the proposal further and answer questions from the board. The hearing was continued to a later date.
