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Date: 2/21/2023
EASTHAMPTON — After well over an hour of deliberation on Feb. 13, the Easthampton Conservation Commission decided to continue the Tasty Top public hearing for the Feb. 27 meeting at 6 p.m.
The Tasty Top Development, as presented at the Planning Board’s Dec. 21 meeting, will run from 93 to 97 Northampton St. and is set to include a gymnastics and daycare facility, 10 three-story apartment buildings with 176 apartment units, two restaurant pad sites, two mixed-use retail and office buildings with 26 apartment units above, one retail building and two commercial storage buildings.
During a meeting with the Planning Board on Feb. 7, Showalter presented an updated site plan that included additional sidewalk connections, bike racks, more trash container locations, photometric plans for the site, two electronic vehicle stations at each multi-family building and chain link fences around the stormwater basins near the multi-family buildings.
At the commission’s Feb. 13 meeting, Luke Showalter, an engineer with Furrow Engineering, provided an update on some of the changes made to the project as the development works through feedback received at previous meetings. He said not much has changed about the site itself since the last commission meeting outside of a few additional rain gardens, but there were revisions made based on previous comments.
Two of the major revisions included the creation of a more detailed, phase-based plan around the stormwater and utilities so there is an understanding of what will be finished in what phase, as well as revising the stormwater management system based on comments from the commission.
“The stormwater management system was revised to include three infiltration basins,” said Showalter, regarding one of the major revisions to the site area.
According to Showalter, the project will be completed in four phases with each phase taking about a year-and-half each depending on grant funding. The developers are aiming for a five-to-seven-year timespan for the project.
Showalter also reiterated that they were able to reduce the parking “significantly,” which has increased the green space throughout the site and allowed Furrow Engineering to move a couple of the proposed residential buildings 15 to 20 feet further away from the steep slopes nearby.
Despite the added detail, the commission still wants to discuss the plans more during their Feb. 27 meeting before scheduling another site visit. Julianne Busa, the chair of the commission, explained that some calculations still need to be revised.
“We want to see that all of the requirements are being met individually as new phases are added,” said Julianne Busa, the chair of the commission. “I don’t think those calculations have been shown yet.”
Busa also expressed concern with the basins, explaining that there are still some issues with their location in relation to the slopes. The hope is to have those questions answered by the Feb. 27 meeting.
Enforcement order
Following the discussion about changes to the site design, the commission also continued its discussion around an enforcement order on the site.
According to the enforcement order, which is viewable on the city’s website, it was initially issued in June 2022. It states that at the commission’s June 13 meeting, it was determined that a Wetlands Protection Act (WPA) violation occurred “due to activities which include, but may not be limited to, the removal of vegetation and ground disturbance (associated with the installation of a crossing) to bank, land under waterbodies and the 100-foot buffer zone associated with a tributary to the Manhan River without the review or approval of the commission.”
As a result of the enforcement order, Sage Engineering was issued a cease-and-desist order after the crossing was built to prevent any work in that 100-foot buffer zone.
Frank DeMarinis, the president of the Tasty Top Development, apologized for the disturbance back in the summer during the Feb. 13 meeting. “I just wanted to apologize for the lack of communication on my part,” said DeMarinis. “I didn’t do it properly, the procedure. I should’ve went about it much differently. We’re doing everything we can to make it right.”
During the Jan. 23 commission meeting, Busa said restoration of that area needs to be a consideration as the project moves forward.
“This matter is distinct from the project that is proposed on the site, which is not approved and not guaranteed to move forward either because of permitting or because we just don’t know ultimately that the proponent will move forward with the project so I want to make sure that we’re including anything that is appropriate for restoration assuming that that project may or may not ever happen,” she said.
According to the order, the crossing was supposed to be removed by the end of October.
Busa proposed that the Tasty Top representatives come back on Feb. 27 with another explanation of how they are going to mitigate this issue. Reminder Publishing will have more when that meeting occurs.