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Date: 5/1/2015
WESTFIELD – The proposed Pride gas station and convenience store, along with three other developments on Southampton Road will not create a substantial amount of additional traffic, Pride founder Bob Bolduc said.
The project, on what is commonly known as “the jug handle,” involves 13-acre parcel, split into four developments, including the island directly across from the Mass Pike exit. The proposals includes a Pride gas station and convenience store, a fast food restaurant on the lot next to Friendly’s, a casual dining restaurant with a liquor license and a commercial fueling station with entrances on Westfield Industrial Park Road.
Bolduc presented the site plan for the four developments to the City Council on April 16 and again to the Planning Board, along with a public hearing, on April 21. In addition to an approval of the site plan, a permit for underground fuel storage is needed, Bolduc said.
Many of the questions from the Planning Board and the residents in attendance were in regards to the number of cars that would be added to an already high-traffic area.
John Furman, the principal engineer for Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc., presented with Bolduc and addressed questions about the traffic study of the area. During peak hours, 7 to 9 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m., he said there would be an additional 60 vehicles in the morning and 38 in the evening.
“It’s like a dimple on an elephant. It’s inconsequential,” Bolduc said. “People didn’t know that, so they reacted.”
However, Carl Vincent, a member of the Planning Board, called these numbers into question, saying that they do not include the other proposed businesses in the site plan.
Bolduc said to help alleviate the area of traffic build-up, the company is paying to “improve and adjust” 11 traffic lights near the proposed site next year. The lights, he said, would be coordinated.
Though the new site plan excludes three curb cuts proposed in the original master plan, lanes would be widened, Bolduc said.
In addition to the gas station and convenience story, which would also have electric car recharging stations, the proposal includes a commercial fueling station behind the Friendly’s restaurant.
This facility would offer compressed natural gas, which Bolduc referred to as the “fuel of the future.” If the plan is approved, these compressed natural gas pumps would be the only ones between New York state and Boston.
Bolduc and Furman stressed that the commercial fueling station would not be a truck stop.
Bolduc said city officials have said they would welcome a casual dining restaurant with a liquor license. He also said two fast food restaurants have shown interested in the parcel next to Friendly’s.
The plan, Bolduc said, goes along with Westfield’s plans for business development.
“This all fits with what they want. They want develop and they want to increase taxes and we’re certainly going to increase taxes,” Bolduc said. “On top of that, we don’t cost the city anything. We pay for our own utilities, trash, snow plowing and we don’t add any kids to the school system. People like businesses, and we pay a higher tax rate than residents do. We’re going to pay a lot off money in taxes.”
The public hearing about the proposed site plan will continue at the Planning Board meeting on May 5 at 7 p.m. To view the plan, visit www.cityofwestfield.org/DocumentCenter/Index/92.