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Date: 12/5/2023
BELCHERTOWN — The long-awaited Carriage Grove project looks to finally be getting underway after a public hearing took place at the Nov. 28 Planning Board meeting.
The redevelopment of the Belchertown State School, dubbed the Carriage Grove project by MassDevelopment, is intended to bring new mixed-use developments to the former site of the infamous institution for the disabled.
Brisa Development LLC was originally supposed to present its proposed site plan for the Belchertown State School property at a public hearing on Sept. 12 and then Oct. 24 but after asking for a continuation each time, the plan was finally presented on Nov. 28.
Brisa Development LLC representative Hammad Graham was present along with representatives from Paul A. Castrucci Architects and GZA Environmental Inc.
Steven D’Ambrosio is a civil engineer from GZA Environmental Inc. and discussed the scope of the project.
Phase 1 “A” will focus on creating a 108 unit, multi-family apartment complex and Phase 1 “B” will focus on the reuse of two existing administration buildings.
Graham added that the affordability, income tiers and design of the complex will vary but will ultimately help Belchertown reach the minimum 10% requirement for affordable housing.
The town is currently at 6%.
The units will be divided between six buildings: three townhouse buildings and three multi-family buildings.
All the buildings in Phase 1 “A” will include solar panels.
PCA Project Manager and Architect Andy Vann added, “Because we have such an abundance of open roof space, we’re more than capable of covering a lot of our needs through the solar panels we are proposing get mounted to the roofs.
The property is approximately 30 acres but phase one will develop on 14 of the total acres.
There is also a plan to demolish existing gravel paths in the center of the property, three existing buildings in the northwest corner, existing fencing and a retaining wall.
Vann said that his company has been working with Brisa Development LLC, the Belchertown Economic Development Industrial Corporation and the Carriage Grove Master Plan since 2020.
Vann said, “We looked at how we can use landscape and structures on site to create different varieties of scales of common spaces and landscape qualities throughout.”
The presentation also looked at the design for the apartment buildings including looking at saltbox houses and rowhouses as inspiration for the design of the buildings.
Vann said, “When we were looking at these different design elements, we wanted to sort of revisit and reinterpret this typology but instead of being built specifically by adding rooms and extending rooflines, we are building it to fit new state of the art affordable housing units and also surfaces for solar and also readdress our modern needs.”
Vann also discussed what the two administration buildings located at corner of Front Street and Berkshire Ave are proposed to become.
He said, “We have been working with the Friends of Belchertown State School organization to figure out how to use the old administration building as an archive and local community museum for them to document the history of this place. For the extension building, we are envisioning this space being used as a sort of local food hall for folks in the area who are producing different food products or local vendors to be able to sell goods and food in this area.”
Some of the concerns that the Planning Board brought up included the amount of parking spaces, the proximity of the parking lots to the buildings, the number of dumpsters and increased traffic.
Vann said he will look at the possibility adding a few drop-off/ loading spaces off the main central drag to make it easier to transport groceries or furniture.
He added, “Folks who have accessibility needs who are going to be in townhouse two are going to need the ability to get closer to their units. I always envisioned that central spine could service multiple functions and allow folks to get closer to their dwelling unit. The project we are presenting is visionary in its effort to get people to move more, to walk more and to not go into their garage and just get in the car and drive to the store.”
After about a two-hour discussion and some public comment, Planning Board Chair Dan Beaudette said that they are still a few items that the applicant needs to show will be solved before they can approve the project.
He added, “Without a final blessing from Tighe and Bond with a letter saying that all their concerns have been addressed, we weren’t going to vote on this. We are not going to vote on a project without having this approved from our peer review engineer.”
The Planning Board agreed to continue the public hearing on Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.
Beaudette added that residents looking to view the presented plan and documents can stop by the Planning Board office.
Project plans can also be viewed at castrucciarchitect.com/carriage-grove.