Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 3/22/2021
SOUTH HADLEY – The South Hadley Planning Board met on the evening of March 18 for a special meeting to review and discuss the draft of the town’s Master Plan update.
The board met to review the second half of the 2020 Master Plan, starting on page 51 of the draft, which discussed economic development. Member Joanna Brown referenced a bullet point on page 51 that referenced the town’s relationship with Mt. Holyoke College. She said as an alumni of the college, she felt as though the statement “oversold” the relationship between the town and the college. Vice Chair, Diane Mulvaney agreed and said while there was “an opportunity” for the town to work with the college “it’s not necessarily going to happen.”
Director of Planning and Conservation Richard Harris agreed that saying that Mt. Holyoke College was a source of business incubation, however he said he believed that the Five Colleges Consortium as a source of business incubation was not a stretch. He said if the town was aspiring to grow relationships with Mt. Holyoke then the statement should not be included, as it was not a true reflection.
Member Melissa O’Brien felt as though it was worth mentioning the “ideal location” of South Hadley. She said they were one of the few towns in the Pioneer Valley that was a 15 to 20 minute drive to several major hubs such as Northampton, Springfield and even Amherst. Additionally, she said they were relatively close to both New York and Boston, making the town even more appealing.
Chair Brad Hutchison questioned if it was worth adding the affordability of the town to the document. However, Brown said they did not want to “undo themselves” by driving up demand for the market and increasing the prices of housing within the town.
Another significant topic of discussion was with regards to page 52, that included a retail gap analysis. Board members went back and forth on how factual the data was and whether it should be included in the plan or not. Member Nate Therian said he did not understand the purpose of the page, especially if a business coming into town would do their one analysis. Hutchison said he felt as though the study used to come up with the figures was referenced, but no methodology or explanation was offered. This, he said, felt as though it was hurting more than helping the plan.
“Part of it is just the way it’s being presented,” he said.
Harris explained, however, that when the study was conducted they looked at Route 9, how busy the road was and the demand given the population of college students in town. He said should the page stay in, he suggested that the company that did the study explain how the study was done and when the data used for the study was taken.
After discussion about wording and revisions surrounding additional points in the draft, the board’s meeting concluded. Harris said while there was no firm deadline to complete the revisions of the draft, it was better to have it done sooner rather than later. The board then also guessed that it would take about three more two-hour sessions to complete the review of the draft. The board will continue their revisions and discussion on March 30, April 12 and April 22 at 6 p.m.