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Date: 8/24/2022
WESTFIELD – Despite Target Corp.’s reassurances about noise and truck traffic, North Road neighbors remain unconvinced that they can live with the proposed 525,800 square foot warehouse.
At the Aug. 16 Westfield Planning Board meeting, Target representative Kate Rivard and VHB project manager Michael Petrin gave the results of a noise study and other responses to questions asked in earlier hearings, but public hearing participants from the city’s North Side and from neighboring Holyoke and Southampton remained skeptical.
Guy D’Angelo, a 40-year resident of North Road, said he doesn’t believe Target’s contention that more than 90 percent of the trucks leaving the facility would go down Southampton Road to the Massachusetts Turnpike, rather than some using North Road as a no-toll shortcut to Interstate 91.
“No truck driver in the world will let you tell him where to drive,” he said. He also noted potential noise pollution: “I do not appreciate hearing trucks backing up all night long,” he said. “This project, as far as I’m concerned, is going to destroy the north end of the city.”
Matthew Warren of Jaeger Drive agreed.
“The traffic studies are pie in the sky. [Route] 202 is a national highway. I’m a truck driver – trucks are going to use it.”
He said he already hears refrigeration units from trucks at his house as a constant drone that won’t go away, as well as a constant “beep, beep, beep.” Warren also questioned whether the Target shift changes, which will add 950 employee car trips per day, would coincide with shift changes at the Home Depot warehouse, which already cause a significant backup.
Bonnie Spencer of New Broadway, a 52-year resident whose mother also lives nearby, said she is concerned about the safety of her grandchildren who are fifth-generation Pequot Pond residents. She said she used to pick up her grandchild from the school on Southampton Road and encountered massive truck traffic trying to get out of there, and said her neighbor’s daughter was in an accident while on a school bus.
“On a separate note, clearing all that land and all that impervious material will create a heat desert,” Spencer said, adding that the people representing Target won’t be here for the impacts on the land, air and water. “Target has a lot of work to do to answer questions. Each tractor-trailer is equivalent to five cars,” she said.
Stan Kosnierz of Holyoke Road said he is concerned about the aquifer and the electric vehicles they are planning to use in the warehouse. He said the only known way to put out a fire in an electric vehicle is with firefighting foam.
“How are you going to mitigate further exposure?” he asked.
Before opening the hearing up to more than 80 members of the public who attended, Planning Board Chair William Carellas went over the guidelines, including a three-minute limit on speaking time. “If you’re asking a question, we will write it down,” he said, adding that it would not be a discussion.
Target’s proposed warehouse would sit on more than 120 acres of land north of Westfield Barnes Regional Airport, a portion of which is on the aquifer.
Employees would enter and exit the property from North Road, while all tractor-trailer access is via Falcon Drive. The warehouse would serve as a distribution center for Target stores in the Northeast, generating 200 truck trips per day. No retail operations nor direct home deliveries are planned at that site.
The property will also include a few outbuildings, a trailer maintenance facility and six emergency diesel generators holding 4,000 gallons of fuel apiece, all on 47 acres of impervious surfaces. Fifty acres on the property will remain untouched grasslands due to its identification as National Heritage endangered species habitat.
Holyoke City Councilor Linda Vacon, who represents the parts of that city adjoining Westfield, said she believes there is a likelihood of traffic increasing significantly on Route 202, and wanted to make sure the Planning Board is aware that a new signal is being installed at Route 202 and Apremont Way, the most dangerous intersection in the city. Also, after 8 p.m., truck traffic is restricted from turning south on Homestead Avenue toward the I-91 ramp near the Holyoke Mall, and is supposed to take a left past Holyoke Community College.
“Enforcement of the limitations that are already posted is problematic,” Vacon said, adding, “I just wanted to make sure you’re aware of what is happening in Holyoke.”
The sole person speaking in favor of the planned Target proposal was Westfield Gas & Electric General Manager Thomas Flaherty, who conceded that he was not making a popular statement in that group. He said WG&E had been working closely with Target during the last year, and Target had upgraded the plan to meet the municipal utility company’s specifications.
“The benefit to the ratepayers of Westfield would be an extremely large facility as far as the load, adding the 20 percent to Westfield’s current load factor of over 80 percent, which would bring lower rates to the people of Westfield,” Flaherty said, adding, “There is a benefit here in Westfield, as well as Target not reaching out for tax increment financing.”
Neighbors argued that taxes and utility rates aren’t the only consideration, however.
“For all the reasons we’ve said, this will have a negative impact. It’s not a net win for Westfield. The benefits don’t outweigh the risks,” said Margaret Tantillo of Long Pond Road.
“My main concern is the safety and the traffic,” said Victor Bortolussi of Jaeger Drive. “There have been so many deaths on that road. Recently, we can’t go five weeks without somebody dying. We all want tax benefits,” he said, but unsafe roads aren’t worth “a penny off the gas bill.”
“The last warehouse, the city said, was the last warehouse,” he added.
Tom Neidig of North Road said his house is on the corner where the new employee exit would be located.
“Aquifer, noise pollution, air pollution – the biggest thing is the traffic. This is going to kill us in the north end. We have enough problems [that] Westfield cannot handle. I don’t want a project of this size in our neighborhood. It doesn’t belong right here on two major streets coming into Westfield,” Neidig said, adding that morning at 5 a.m. a truck was idling; with another truck right behind him. “We just don’t need this in our neighborhood.”
Kenneth Lafreniere, who lives directly across the street on North Road, said Target’s driveway would come right out into his driveway.
“I’m opposed to this project. There’s so much traffic,” he said, with two lanes constantly backed up going west on North Road toward Cumberland Farms.
Robert Francis Zemba, who lives nearby in Southampton, said Target won’t be able to tell independent truckers which way to drive. He asked if there are problems in the future, who will they be able to contact.
“I cannot call Mr. Target or Mrs. Target,” he said. “Target’s interests are making sure its annual report meets its goals. ... Target’s plan is filled with smoke and mirrors. I’m in favor of responsible development. Barnes Airport is expanding. Old Dominion is expanding. I didn’t see anything on the plan that helps. We need to work together. This is the only time Westfield has leverage before Target moves in. I hope the board votes responsibly.”
After these and other speakers were done, Carellas asked Target representatives to come forward and answer some of the questions and concerns that were raised about preventing truckers from using Jaeger Drive and the noise from refrigeration in the trucks. Rivard pointed to plans for signage and a noise study that had been completed in response.
However, Rivard said she would get back to the Planning Board with answers to questions about ammonia leaks and what would be used to put out electrical fires.
Carellas also asked for verification from the city planner on whether Target’s application for a special permit included for a building greater than 100,000 square feet. Vinskey said it was in the public notice, but didn’t know if it was specifically in the application.
Planning Board member John Bowen asked for clarification regarding the aquifer, which is under a portion of the site. Vinskey said per aquifer regulations and the Planning Board’s purposes, the whole site must adhere to aquifer regulations for a special permit.
Carellas then asked for comments from Westfield City Council President William Onyski, Ward 1 Councilor Nicholas J. Morganelli Jr., and at-large councilors Dave Flaherty and Kristen Mello, all of whom urged the Planning Board to vote against the special permit, and to find that it will adversely impact the neighborhood.
Onyski said he was speaking as the councilor for Ward 6, which spans much of the North Side, including the Target property and its neighbors.
“There’s been a lot of examples here about environmental issues, traffic issues, noise issues with Hampton Ponds, endangered species and the aquifer,” Onyski said. “These are clearly examples, very well illustrated by the residents, of how this will adversely affect the neighborhood.”
Carellas then ended the open discussion at 10:30 p.m., three and a half hours into the meeting.
“We still have additional business,” he said, and asked to continue the hearing to Sept. 20.