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Date: 8/16/2023
BELCHERTOWN — Representatives of Brisa Development LLC will host a public hearing on Tuesday, Sept. 12, to present their proposed site plan for the redevelopment of the Belchertown State School.
The hearing will take place at 7 p.m. in the main meeting room at Town Hall, 2 Jabish St.
According to Town Planner Doug Albertson, the construction firm, which was awarded the project in August of 2021, submitted a site plan for developing apartment building and townhouses on the site and renovating the administration building.
Albertson added, “It will be initial hearing so they are going to present their plan, the Planning Board will ask them a whole bunch of questions and the public will also ask a whole bunch of questions and I am sure it will get continued.”
The redevelopment of the Belchertown State School, dubbed the Carriage Grove project by MassDevelopment, is expected to begin construction soon.
“I think we have been waiting for this day for a long time,” Town Administrator Steve Williams said, “Brisa has been working with the [Economic Development Industrial Corporation] for several years and I am happy to report that they now have a preliminary site plan for phase one.”
The project seeks to bring new mixed-use developments to the former site of the state school.
According to the MassDevelopment website, the project covers 24 acres and up to 581,000 square feet of mixed-use development.
The project will consist of five phases with phase 1 creating approximately a 100 unit multi-family complex and to reuse the two existing administration buildings.
The former Belchertown State School Administration Building is proposed to be redeveloped into a community center, museum, cultural space, meeting space and either a restaurant, brewery or distillery.
“We still have a long road ahead of us before we actually see shovels on the ground. I think it is going to be a process that the Planning Board will be working on for quite some time. I think plans are going to see multiple revisions before they’re finally complete,” Williams said.
Albertson added that the length of the project depends on how their plan meets the requirements of the town.
He said, “They have their goals of course. In terms of our process, they are going to have to meet all the various requirements of the site plan and conservation and everything else. Its going to take some review.”
Following the Belchertown State School closure in 1992, the Belchertown EDIC purchased the Carriage Grove site from the state.
In 2012, MassDevelopment joined the town of Belchertown and the EDIC to act as the EDIC’s agent and to help to create a development vision and pre-permitted master plan for the site.
According to MassDevelopment website, the proposed five phased plan looks to address regional housing demand as part of a larger mixed-use development, including medical, retail, restaurant, industrial and certain residential uses, and aims to retain community character while providing employment and growth opportunities and encouraging commercial and cultural activities.
Williams added, “This is really going to be one of the anchors of the site. It is going to bring a lot of people to that area and should hopefully help attract additional businesses and additional development.”
The Select Board saw the proposed site plan at its Aug. 7 meeting and voted to send it back to the Planning Board for continued review.
Select Board member Peg Louraine added, “There are a number of departments who had questions and concerns. I assume the Planning Board will work with those departments. For now, I am not prepared to do anything but send it back to the Planning Board and let them deal with all those various concerns.”