Ludlow residents speak against proposed self-storage facility

Date: 7/5/2023

LUDLOW – At its June 22 meeting, the Planning Board discussed a presentation with Rich Kowalski from JLL Real Estate LLC, Tom Reidy from Bacon Wilson, P.C. and Lucien DiStefano from Bohler Engineering for a proposed self-storage facility at 590-596 Center St.

The proposal includes adding a development with six storage containers located at 590-596 Center St. in the Agriculture Moderate Density Overlay District, where self-storage facilities are allowed with Planning Board site plan approval and a special permit.

In July 2022, JLL Real Estate LLC applied for, had hearings on, and was denied a special permit upon the material then-presented for a self-storage facility for failing to meet or exceed the Ludlow Zoning Bylaw requirements.

JLL appealed the ruling with Hampden County Superior Court and have made changes to the proposal after hearing comments from the Planning Board and the neighborhood.

The Planning Board meeting room was packed with 10-plus community members who were present to speak their concerns about the location of the facility and how it will affect them.

A few members from the community also wrote letters that expressed their opposition to the proposed plan that Planning Board Chair Raymond Phoenix read aloud.

Some of the concerns included a potential increase in traffic, having to look at the facility every time they walk out their door, the hours of operation and how it might decrease their property value.

The proposed plan includes a steep or flat roof that will be brown with green walls on the side of the units, but Reidy and Kowalski added nothing is set in stone.

Planning Board member Chris Coelho asked what people will think of the aesthetics of the building if they were to drive by it.

Reidy said, “You are not going to know it is back there.”

In terms of hours of operations, Kowalski said they plan to keep the facility open 24/7 but there is nothing that says it explicitly in the proposed plan, which leaves it open to conversation and a change.
Kowalski said, “Most common times that people access their units is on a Friday afternoon, on a Saturday morning, on a Sunday morning. That is where we typically see the traffic. We typically leave it open to access your goods as you need them.”

After a discussion with residents that lasted approximately 30 minutes, the Planning Board decided to continue this discussion at its meeting on July 13 at 7:15 p.m.

The Planning Board also had four members present and it was agreed that the vote should be saved for the next meeting to allow all the members to view it and be present for a vote.

Phoenix said that if the project was to be approved, there can always be conditions added to the special permit that the facility must follow.

He added, “This particular use on this piece of property requires a site plan and special permit. The special permit allows us to put restrictions and things like that onto it, whether its hours of operations or other things, to make sure it meets the needs of the town.”

Since their meeting over a year ago, DiStefano and Reidy joined the project to help get the site plan approved.

Some changes from the original plan to the newly proposed plan include a 25% reduction in storage facility, a 14% reduction in impervious surface, decrease in lighting, a photometric plan, an increase in landscaping and a significant stormwater management plan.

The original plan proposed eight storage units but that has been reduced to six proposed units decreasing the square footage to 29,550 square feet.

There were originally 62 lights proposed, which has been reduced to 38, and a proposed 255 landscaping plants.

Many of the proposed changes were presented to not disturb the residential abutters to the south of the proposed facility.

DiStefano said, “Most importantly what we tried to do is maximize landscape buffering especially to the abutters to the south. As noted, there was a significant existing vegetated buffer of 20 linear feet from the southernly border into the property and another 20 feet of landscape area that will be heavily planted with arborvitaes that will be anywhere from six to eight feet in height at the time of planting.

He added there will be 45 arborvitaes along that border “to help minimize any impacts visually from the location.”

According to DiStefano, there were also some concerns with the stormwater management, but the revised plan has proposed a “significant” stormwater management system.

DiStefano added, “The easiest way to put it is we are required to mitigate but we are also required to try and mimic existing conditions. Anybody who has been to that site knows that the runoff for the most part, sheet flow is untreated basically into the right of way and we are again doing that only we are collecting it, treating it, infiltrating it to the greatest extent possible and then putting it into the street. It is not going to flow off to abutting properties. It is being contained and discharged back to where it is going today.”

The lighting was also decreased and designed to put light adjacent to the units and not on to abutting properties or right of ways.

“Another attempt made to basically reduce any impacts to the surrounding properties,” DiStefano said.”

The proposed project also has had a traffic study done on the site that provided no negative feedback.
There were also no environmental issues or no significant impact to nearby natural resources after experts viewed the plans as well, according to Reidy.

The Planning Board just recently approved a special permit and site plan for a self-storage facility at 279 Cady St. at its March 9 meeting.

Reidy added, “This project is incredibly similar to that project.”

Phoenix said he hopes the Planning Board, applicant and residents all read the proposed plan and documents before the next meeting to discuss anything else.

He said, “I strongly suggest anybody on any side of this table who has not read all of this documentation please take the time to do so. I think there are good points in both of those documents.”

The proposed site plan and documents can be viewed at www.ludlow.ma.us under documents for review on the Planning Board page.