Zoning Board of Appeals continues gas station proposal

Date: 12/6/2011

Dec. 7, 2011

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Editor

WEST SPRINGFIELD — Plans to construct a new gas station and convenience store on the corner of Park Avenue and Union Street will have to clear a few more hurdles before it is considered for town approval.

Chester Zymroz, acting chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA), told Reminder Publications that the board voted at its Nov. 28 meeting to continue the discussion on the proposed project, which involves the demolition of the existing Gulf gasoline station located at 143 Park Ave. to make way for the construction of 4,242 square-foot convenience store and the installation of 10 fueling stations. Cumberland Farms and Gulf Oil of Framingham, is the applicant.

West Springfield Planning Director Richard Werbiskis explained that the Cumberland Farms application involves the demolition of a business that was constructed under a special permit to replace it with another business that would also only be allowed under special permit. Both the existing business and the proposed project are sited, he said, in a Business A1 zoning district, which permits the construction of professional buildings, but not the type of business model being proposed.

“Because the current business, a gas station, is a non-conforming use by zoning, [this] does not presume that [the site] can change from one non-conforming use to another,” Werbiskis said, adding that the new business must still meet all requirements of special permitting before it receives the fist stage of approval from the ZBA.

Zymroz said the board found issues with the size of the landscape buffer between the proposed gas station and an adjoining business presented in the current site plans. There was also an issue with the proposed signage at the new business. Both are not allowed under town zoning laws.

Zymroz said these issues would have to be addressed through the submission of a request for a variance allowing these alterations before the special permit can be considered.

Werbiskis said both his office and the Department of Public Works also raised questions about the impact such a large gas station might have on the traffic flow at that corner.

District 1 Town Councilor Angus Rushlow, who attended the Nov. 28 meeting, said he has heard concerns about the project increasing traffic from many of his constituents. Rushlow’s district, which he said is one of the “oldest and poorest” in West Springfield, includes the area of Park Avenue and Union Street.

“I frankly believe something like this belongs on Riverdale Street, or on a main street, not in the center of town ... where people meet,” Rushlow told Reminder Publications, adding that there is already an existing problem with pedestrian traffic trying to cross Park Avenue, particularly when there is a festival or memorial ceremony scheduled on the Town Common.

Zymroz said the ZBA also had questions about the traffic study presented by Cumberland Farms’ engineers from Fuss & O’Neil, specifically because it included accident data from the state Department of Transportation rather than from the West Springfield Police Department’s accident reporting bureau.

“Traffic is a major concern for the project, but variances have to be addressed first before a special permit application can be voted on,” Zymroz said.

The ZBA will continue discussion of the Cumberland Farms project at its Jan. 23, 2012, meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. at the West Springfield Municipal Building. Zymroz said residents are invited to express any concerns about the project during the public hearing portion of the meeting.

Debbie Gardner can be reached by email at debbieg@thereminder.com