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Date: 10/12/2022
AMHERST – The Hadley Planning Board met on Oct. 4 to discuss business both old and new. They were joined by representatives from local businesses and the design firms which service them.
Norm Mogul, facilities supervisor of the Domino’s Pizza franchise at 459 Russell St, requested permission to place new flutter signage on the building and around the property. The signage will be of the “Now Hiring” variety; Mogul said that the pizza parlor is currently short staffed, and they are “trying to attract new employees.” Mogul guessed that the bulk of any potential new hires would be from the nearby University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass) campus and requested permission to leave the signage up for the entirety of the UMass school year.
Board Chair Jim Maksimoski did not agree with the premise of year-long signage, and the rest of the board shared his view. They eventually granted Mogul’s request partially, allowing the signage to be up until the board’s Dec. 6 meeting, at which time Mogul must appear before the board again to give a progress report. Depending on the status of the hiring process, the board will then decide whether to continue the signage.
Two public hearings ensued, both continuations of earlier hearings. The first regarded construction of a new office building at 401 Russell St., the former site of the Howard Johnson hotel. The project was represented at the meeting by Mike Gagnon from SLR International and Curt Shumway from Amherst Development Association.
Gagnon listed the progression of the project since the previous hearing on Aug. 16. After receiving peer review from Berkshire Design Group, they addressed all concerns, most of which involved issues of stormwater drainage. Gagnon explained that they had made changes to the grading of the site around its perimeter “to contain runoff and prevent additional flow onto Russell Street.” Hadley Fire Department Chief Mike Spanknebel was also present to confer on various safety issues.
After thorough review, the board decided that the project satisfies all requirements of zoning bylaw and does not disrupt the character of the existing neighborhood and passed a vote to approve the project. However, this vote is not the end of the story. The project must be cleared by several other committees and governing bodies before beginning construction, such as its meeting with the Conservation Commission on Oct. 11.
The next public hearing revisited the proposed coffee shop at 13 Russell St, continuing from the Sept. 20 meeting. Jeff Squire from Berkshire Design Group presented a revised design that addressed the board’s previous concerns about “stacking,” wherein cars in line for the drive-through would spill out onto Russell Street and potentially cause congestion near the Northampton bridge.
The previous design had proposed a one-way entrance from Russell Street, and a two-way exit-entrance on the Bay Road side of the property; the revised design creates a second curb cut on the Bay Road side, allowing for a one-way entrance and a one-way exit separate from one another. The entrance on Russell Street was removed, however there would still be a curb cut on the Russell Street side for emergency vehicle access only.
The zoning bylaw states that the business would have to provide parking space equal to double the square footage of the structure. This would translate to 2,500 square feet of parking; currently, only 2,290 square feet exists. The board gave Squire three options to remedy this predicament: the project must either add more parking spaces in the existing lot, reduce the size of the building, or engage in what is called Transfer of Development Rights (TDR), whereby they business would buy an acre of farmland elsewhere in the town for roughly $10,000 for the right to increase density in their construction lot.
Maksimoski sent Squire away with list of tasks to take care of before facing the board again. The parking or TDR issue must be resolved, as must the fire lane issue – currently there is only 12 feet of space in front of the service area when a minimum of 20 feet is required for emergency vehicles. The stairs on the front yard setbacks on both sides of the building must be relocated, and new drawings must be submitted to the board incorporating the design changes. The hearing will be continued on Oct. 18, at the board’s next meeting.