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Developers explain Lowe's plans

By Natasha Clark

Reminder Assistant Editor



EAST LONGMEADOW Last Tuesday, retail developers Edens & Avant shared their desire to put a Lowe's on land behind Heritage Park Plaza.

They are currently under a purchase of sale agreement with the owner of the undeveloped land.

Concerned residents accepted the invitation to go to Panera Bread on August 16 to hear the proposal of the site and share their view points.

"Lowe's [on Boston Road] is 15 minutes away. Why do I need to travel 30 seconds?" asked one resident who sat with his arms folded across his chest.

"I can't imagine coming into a town with 15,000 people and stuffing a Lowe's behind it," added another resident.

"We have a Rocky's, why do we need a Lowe's?" asked another.

Of the many concerns posted by town residents, the most pressing issue seemed to be traffic.

"We're trying to get a sense of whether we're headed in the right direction," explained Joe Pierik of Edens & Avant.

And to do so, they decided to host the informational/ Q&A session which is not a mandatory procedure to have an "exchange of ideas," Pierik said.

One of the proposed ideas to assist the development of Lowe's and ease traffic is to install a state-of-the-art traffic signal.

According to traffic consultants hired by Edens & Avant, the current traffic signal in East Longmeadow is not optimized, and they would like to work with the town and tie- in to a system.

There are also talks of potentially widening the road as far as the Big Y property on North Main Street.

According to information provided at the meeting, after studying 17-18 Lowe's stores, it is estimated that an average of 1,500 customers visit the individual stores throughout the day.

The proposed Lowe's for East Longmeadow is also supposed to be smaller than the one on Boston Road in Springfield. The size of the Boston Road facility is about 165,000 square feet. East Longmeadow's would be around 145,000.

Residents were also informed that a Lowe's store could generate $200,000 in tax revenue and and reap additional benefits like local employment.

Because of where the undeveloped land is situated, developers would have to be respectful not only of residential abutters, but also conservation land.

Baystate Environmental Engineers, Inc. has been hired to help the project in that area.

The Lowe's building is planned to be 25 feet lower than the abutting properties. Baystate also plans to work with the local Conservation Commission and Department of Environmental Protection. They have also planned to do subsurface detention and have storm water discharge into the brook.

Edens & Avant have filed a request for determination, and while the Conservation has not approved anything, they have agreed with their delineation.