Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 8/2/2022
SOUTH HADLEY – The Planning Board invited residents to a public hearing during their July 25 meeting and welcomed comments and ideas based on the Route 202/33 corridor study.
Teaming up with Harriman Associates and then later Innes Associates Ltd., South Hadley officials are looking at potential plans and ideas for the corridor areas that connect the town to Granby and Chicopee to differentiate their community appearance-wise, and to bring in new businesses and potential mixed-use housing. There are no plans set in stone as the study was meant to identify feasible options for economic and housing development in the areas.
Planning and Conservation Director Anne Capra opened the hearing with a presentation of the findings and recommendations of the corridor study before opening for public comment.
The study began after the town received a grant from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs under the Planning Assistance Grant program to study Routes 202/33 corridor. This corridor is the most heavily traveled in South Hadley and contains a broad mix of residential, open space and recreation, and commercial uses along the length of the two roads.
The current South Hadley Master Plan identified five commercial centers in town, and two fall along this corridor. The first is at the junction of Routes 202 and 33 and is centered on the site of the Plains Elementary School. The second is between that junction and the Chicopee border along Route 33. The focus of that stretch is the South Hadley Square Shopping Center with the Big Y grocery as the most significant tenant.
The purpose of the study was to implement some of the 2010 Master Plan’s basic recommendations for this corridor, and create a framework for successful development on the corridor in coordination with the properties that are close to but beyond the corridor in Granby and Chicopee.
Planning Board Chair Brad Hutchison said the study is really plans to consider for the board and the recommendations for the town. He added this was the consultants’ possible view for a way the town could be looking at the area.
Capra, who was not directly involved in the study as it was completed before she became director, said the public did not want a plan finalized without the opportunities for in-person community forums. The coronavirus pandemic forced the town to not be able to do such a meeting but it attempted to keep residents in the loop and even had a virtual community workshop last November for input.
The purpose of the hearing was for the board to listen to any more comments to decide if they will endorse the plan or not. The study was an assessment of the existing conditions of the corridor and the plan offered recommendations on how to address some of the issues identified.
Capra said the four goals of the plan are to coordinate strategy, identify areas of natural resources and existing neighborhoods, encourage well designed and compatible growth and to increase opportunities for well planned developments including mixed-use.
As part of the analysis on this corridor, the consultant team evaluated its strengths and weaknesses based on existing physical and regulatory conditions. The consultant team then identified potential opportunities for future land uses and the threats on realizing those opportunities.
One strength identified was the existing mix of uses. In the study it says, “Routes 202/33 form an established corridor with existing infrastructure supporting a mix of uses. Attracting more businesses and residential along the existing infrastructure is more cost-effective and sensitive to the open spaces along the corridor than developing in a green field.”
Another potential strength identified was the South Hadley Square Shopping Center just south of the intersection of Route 202 and 33. The commercial center is surrounded by neighborhoods and the study identified the space could be better leveraged to provide more neighborhood-oriented services such as a small café or restaurant, ice cream store, dry cleaners or a laundry and more. The study also suggests that residential uses as part of mixed-use development could also be possible in this space.
The biggest weakness identified in the corridor study was the inadequate public realm and car-oriented nature of the corridor. According to the study, the quality of the existing sidewalks and public infrastructure limit the potential for alternative methods such as walking or biking. The layout of the corridor encourages through-traffic and requires car-dependent travel, even for those living close to the corridor.
The recommendation given from the study was that improving the public realm encourages all modes of transportation (foot, bike, car) which inherently provides a safe and comfortable experience for all users of the corridor. A multi-modal circulation pattern would help stimulate connectivity among housing, jobs, goods and services, and public spaces while also promoting healthier lifestyles with physical exercise and reduces emissions of pollutants.
One other broader point made on a weakness of the corridor was its inconsistent visual experience that provides a negative impression of the corridor, according to the study.
“For a visitor, there is no sense that this is a destination rather than a pass-through, and no common identity with other parts of South Hadley,” the study said.
In one of their recommendations, the study suggest focus to be put on these gateways to South Hadley and said it was an opportunity to highlight and define South Hadley’s unique identity. The study recommends creating a gateway with signage and landscaping, the introduction of common materials that are consistent throughout the corridor and with land uses and urban forms that highlight transition from one town to the next.
Another identified weakness of note was the inconsistent zoning and land uses along the corridor. The study suggests updating zoning to promote a mix of uses around existing successful areas within the corridor to increase economic opportunities in the area. The study recommends that revised zoning and guidelines should attract new services and leverage existing infrastructure.
One other threat the study found was potential lack of joint planning with Chicopee and Granby. The study recommends South Hadley do their best in communicating with the two surrounding communities throughout this process as the willingness of these three municipalities to collaborate on the corridor that links them is critical to its success.
When opened to public comment, one resident thought new sidewalks and bike lanes were a good addition for the space, but was not sure where the addition of housing would work along the corridor.
Another resident spoke in favor of changing certain bylaws that could improve the zoning to bring in new uses of the properties along the corridor, but still felt the town should be patient before acting on any recommendations.
“I think the report is very good and I think some hard thinking should be done before the town moves ahead with additional inconsistencies,” he said.
Resident Lucia Foley asked the board why, in the study, a recommendation for the potential new properties that could come in along the corridor was to be up to three and a half stories high. She referenced other zoning laws in the town and from other communities for similar areas.
“Thinking of the area of where I live, which is off Route 33, it doesn’t seem like it really makes sense to have a very tall building there. I’m thinking of everything there and I’m not quite sure where it would go or what it would be,” Foley said.
Capra responded to some of the concerns regarding the height of the potential new developments and said these recommendations of height were already based on defined zoning laws across the town that say a maximum height is three stories. The different districts all define the maximum height from a variation of 35 to 45 feet.
Foley added while it was a good suggestion to add bike lines and more accessible areas along the corridor for residents, this was not a comfortable walking environment for most due to the high volume of traffic. Board Clerk Joanna Brown agreed.
A resident named Chevy spoke during the public hearing and had comments as an advocate for bicyclists.
“I’ve been on every bicycle trail south of Hatfield well down into Connecticut. I also walk around town a lot,” he said. “I am a little uneasy with that bike lane. I know when the bike walk committee looked at this when I was on the committee, we were kind of scratching our heads like, ‘what are they trying to accomplish here?’ And as an experienced bicyclist, I’m a little bit nervous about vehicles having a sort of broken dotted line to cross either in front of me or back of me.”
Chevy also said he hopes part of the plan is to protect bicyclists a little better as well as pedestrians. He added that he agreed that a 35-foot limit for potential new properties along the corridor could make the town lose some of its small-town character.
“It seems like gateway is a very impressive term, but we’re a small town after all, and we don’t want to lose the small-town character itself,” he said.
Hutchison said he was undecided on making an action to endorse the plan with the board as he felt there could be more time to take in all the information and identify the importance of each recommendation and which to pursue.
“Endorsing seems like somewhat of a hollow step to take anyway. We can endorse it, but then not do anything with it. Or we could not endorse it and implement some or all of it too. So, I guess, I’m not really sure what the benefit or not benefit would be to endorsing it or not endorsing it,” Hutchison said.
Capra added that she felt the consideration for endorsement of the plan from the Planning Board came out of the fact that there were some zoning proposals that have come forward through as the study was ongoing. Those proposals have since been withdrawn and Capra said due to this, she did not have a preference if there was an official endorsement.
Vice-Chair of the board Diane Mulvaney said she looked at the study as there were four recommendations that came out of it.
“I think we need to look at those recommendations and determine how we’re going to move forward. I’m not married to, ‘do we need to endorse it or not.’ We commissioned somebody to do a study, now we have a study. We can accept their study and that doesn’t endorse it, it just accepts it as being final,” Mulvaney said.
Mulvaney added even if action started on any of the recommendations from the study, this was most certainly a project that has a long-term view.
Associate board member Michael Adelman said he thinks the board should look at the report as visionary and thought there was benefit coming from the study that they had ideas to meld as a resource to their Master Plan ideas.
Board member Nate Therien said he was taking an agnostic approach to the endorsement decision and thought one strong part of the study was its argument for intentionality and thinking about the corridor and it accepts it is not now all it could be.
Therien added even without an endorsement, the study has already been of huge benefit to them as it brought forward a cohesive report and outlined potential options for the town to improve the area.
“It really is the first step and not the final answer that we’re going to march forward on without any consideration,” Therien said.