LARRY SMITH
SUE PHILLIPS
The new Ashley Street Elementary School and surrounding area. (Photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
Only four residents attended last night’s Zoning Board of Appeals meeting to discuss the new Ashley Street Elementary School project. (Photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
Westfield Zoning Board of Appeals member Lynn Boucher, center, points to an area of concern on a set of drawings of the new Ashley Street Elementary School during a meeting last night at Westfield City Hall. (Photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – The Zoning Board of Appeals voted last night to amend a special permit issued for the proposed Ashley Street elementary school.
The board voted on Nov. 16 to grant a dimensional special permit requested by the city to allow construction of the 96,000-square-foot school building at the corner of Ashley and Cross streets.
The dimensional special permit is required because two wings of the school are less that 20 feet from the west side property line. City ordinance in a residence B zone requires a side yard setback of at least 20 feet.
The largest wing, which fronts Ashley Street, comes within eight feet of the church property, while the middle wing is within 12 feet of the property line.
The discussion Tuesday night focused on the fact that the board adopted only three of the four findings recommended by the city’s Law and Community Development departments. Those findings are attached to the special permit to explain why the board granted the special permit.
The board, at the Nov. 16 session, argued that one of the recommended findings was not within its scope of authority. That finding was an endorsement by the ZBA that “adequate and appropriate facilities will be provided for the proper operation of the proposed use” as an elementary school.
The suggested finding pertained to “adequate and appropriate facilities for safe pedestrian circulation” between the school and the parking lot of St. Peter’s/St. Casimir’s Church. The city is entering a lease agreement with the church for use of the church parking facility by the staff of the school.
The board rejected the finding because it felt that those issues, sidewalks and parking, are the purview of the Planning Board.
Tuesday night, Board member Martin Newman, who has argued against the recommended finding, suggested that the board acted in haste on Nov. 16 and should have given further consideration to the findings needed to support the dimensional special permit.
“We hurried and didn’t take the time to read (the recommended findings) carefully,” Newman said. “We probably should have spent more time going over our options.”
Susan Phillips of the Law Department addressed the ZBA before the members opened their discussion on an amendment to the special permit findings.
Under city ordinance, any board granting a special permit must spell out all four findings to support the reason for approving the permit, Phillips said.
“If your decision is appealed, the court was most likely remand the case back to this board to make that finding,” Phillips said. “You have to make sure that your decision has sufficient substance to justify it.”
Newman offered a finding that is broader in scope than the one recommended by the Law and Community Development departments.
“I tried to make it general enough to apply to the whole project and not just the sidewalk and parking issues,” Newman said. “The language that I’m proposing is: After review of the site plan and a site visit, the Board is satisfied that adequate and appropriate facilities will be provided for the proper operation of the proposed use of an elementary school. The yard setback approved in this special permit will not adversely affect provisions for vehicular and pedestrian traffic envisioned in said plan.”
The ZBA members unanimously voted to accept and attach Newman’s proposed finding to the dimensional special permit.
