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Date: 7/20/2021
SOUTHWICK – The Planning Board July 13 continued a public hearing on a New England Disc Golf permit amendment to the Aug. 10 meeting after a lengthy discussion between concerned neighbors, the Planning Board, and the applicants.
New England Disc Golf Center is located at 51 John Mason Road, Southwick. Owners Freda Brown and Randy Brown said that they had installed a stop sign near their entrance to mitigate speeding after complaints from residents.
Planning Board Chair Michael Doherty said the board received letters from residents expressing appreciation that the disc golf center put in the effort to make the road at least a little safer. Randy Brown, who is also the director of the Department of Public Works, said that there had been a letter signed by residents of John Mason Road in 2007 in regard to speeding problems then. New England Disc Golf was not established until 2016, so Brown said that he does not feel that his facility contributed to a speeding problem.
Another neighbor of the disc golf center said later in the hearing that she feels that the traffic has become worse since the disc golf course opened.
One of the major concerns expressed by John Mason Road residents was about the alcohol and food sales permits being sought by New England Disc Golf. Resident Robert Baribeau said the special permits and site plan approval for the disc golf course in 2016 included a prohibition of alcohol use on the property. He said he had lived on John Mason Road for 50 years, for most of which the neighborhood had been quiet, rural, and tranquil.
“Of the many terms in the 2016 special permit, the prohibition of alcohol was the most significant,” said Baribeau.
Baribeau and his attorney, Diana Day, both said the 2016 permit was also supposed to be subject to an annual renewal, which they said did not happen.
Doherty said requiring an annual renewal is an unusual provision for a special permit, and he would consider removing that provision. He said he would have to talk to the Planning Board members from 2016 who considered the permits and see why they included that provision first.
Day argued that allowing food and alcohol sales would not be acceptable under the current bylaws, and because of how the original permit was agreed to.
The hearing was continued to Aug. 10 at 8 p.m.