WESTFIELD — A group of concerned neighbors has raised yet another question regarding the site chosen for the proposed Ashley Street School.
The same group has brought a lawsuit against the city on Dec. 15, 2011, over a Zoning Board of Appeals decision regarding a special permit allowing for the proposed school to be built on what the group considers an under-sized lot.
According to materials provided to Reminder Publications, the group's new concern regards plans to use a small portion of land that originally belonged to the Cross Street Playground as part of the new school site.
This move, they say, may require the city to petition the state for permission to use the land, and also require the city to make an in-kind land transfer or purchase of land of equivalent value to replace the 55-year-old park.
The Aug. 18, 2011 minutes of the Westfield City Council indicate that the council received a request from Mayor Daniel Knapik "requesting approval of an order transferring care, custody, management and control of municipally owned property, a portion of the Cross Street Playground."
The explanation was that this portion of the park needed to be transferred to municipal control to ensure the city had adequate land available for construction of the new school.
The council suspended its rules, reading and voting on the order that evening to ensure the land taking would occur prior to an Aug. 19 project submission deadline required by the Massachusetts School Building Authority.
The motion passed by a vote of 11-0, with two councilors absent.
Thomas Smith, a spokesman for the group of neighbors, said that act violated an open space agreement on the playground that went into effect when the city accepted grant money its maintenance decades ago.
"The Cross Street Playground was developed under the Department of Parks & Recreation in Westfield [and] they received federal funding to maintain it," Smith said. "That fact puts the park under a permanent open space protection under Article 97 of the [Massachusetts] state constitution; it's called Open Space in Perpetuity."
Information provided by Smith indicates that, under Article 97 of Chapter 132C of the Public Lands Preservation Act, the transfer of Cross Street Park land use should have required not only a City Council vote, but also petitioning of the State Legislature for permission to change the land's designation, and, eventually, approval by Gov. Deval Patrick.
A June 2009 survey of Westfield's parks and open space conducted by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and the Franklin Regional Council of Governments shows that the Cross Street Playground was listed as permanently protected open space at that time.
Melissa Cryan, grant manager for the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs confirmed that Cross Street Playground was one of five Westfield parks — including Chapman Playground, Whitney Playground, Paper Mill Playground and Hampton Ponds — awarded an open space grant in 1979.
She said Smith called her to confirm that fact last week, adding, "because [Cross Street Playground] received a grant, it must remain a park."
She confirmed that if the city wishes to declare the 5.1-acre park eligible for another use, such as the school, it must dedicate a parcel of exactly the same land value and recrational use a park in perpetuity.
"I have not heard back from the city, they may have another piece of land in mind," Cryan said.
Westfield City Solicitor Susan Phillips did not respond to questions about Cross Street Playground by press time.
Smith's group will present their findings on the school project March 11 from 2 to 3 p.m. at St. John's Church on Broad Street.
