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Date: 7/6/2021
SOUTHWICK – The Agricultural Commission met June 30 in the wake of the contentious June 29 Planning Board hearing on the Carvana project.
The Agricultural Commission hosted the hybrid meeting to debrief the commission and the public on what happens with the Carvana project next and what options opponents may have.
The Planning Board had voted the night before to continue the public hearing to July 20, after the hearing extended past 11 p.m.
Agricultural Commission Chair Burt Hansen said he had scheduled the meeting thinking that the Planning Board was going to vote on the project.
Commissioner Maryssa Cook-Obregón said Attorney Tim Ryan, who has been retained by the Save Southwick group, will be looking at Southwick’s bylaws and seeing where there may be valid legal arguments for the Planning Board to deny the special permits. General contractor Brinkmann Constructors is seeking the special permits and site plan approval on behalf of Carvana.
“We want someone who understands the breadth and scope of the bylaws so we can see if our arguments are applicable,” said Cook-Obregón.
Planning Board Chair Michael Doherty was the lone in-person audience member in attendance, and soon joined the Agricultural Commission at the table to help address the process of granting or denying a special permit for Carvana. Doherty said if the Carvana project adheres to all bylaws, the Planning Board would essentially be required to approve all of the permits and the site plan.
“If a board just said we don’t care about the bylaw the public doesn't want it, and that wasn’t something in the bylaw, if we just said that and said no, it would be overturned in a minute,” said Doherty.
He said he is pleased to see that the town approved a Master Plan, and that the Planning Board had been pushing for one for years. He said he hopes to soon see a Master Plan Committee formed.
Cook-Obregón said part of the goal of those opposed to the Carvana project should be to make sure that something like this cannot happen again, even if Carvana ultimately is able to build the facility. Doherty suggested that the Agricultural Commission may be the best fit to identify lands that should remain as agricultural districts in the future.
He said that, as far as he is aware, the sale of the parcel at 686 College Highway hasn’t been sold yet to Carvana by Indus Realty Trust, the company that owns the parcel. He said that there is likely an agreement in place to make a sale contingent on the granting of the Special Permit and site plan approval.
The Planning Board is a five-member board. For the Carvana proposal to pass, it must be approved by a supermajority of four of the members. If two or more members vote no, it will not pass and a written description of why the board voted as it did must be produced.
Cook-Obregón asked Doherty if the idea of being sued by Carvana is a factor in the Planning Board’s decision, to which Doherty said it was not.
Cook-Obregón said that if Carvana did try to sue in the event of a denial of the permit, the Agricultural Commission and residents who oppose the project would “have their back.”
When Hansen closed the meeting, he said that everybody “had some homework to do,” before July 20.