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Date: 5/13/2022
HAMPDEN – Despite a December 2021 decision by the Hampden Planning Board denying a petition for a self-storage facility at 2 Somers Rd., controversy continues to surround the issue, focusing on a lawsuit filed in Land Court and the individuals involved in the decision.
A letter written by Planning Board Chair John Matthews to one of the petitioners for the 2 Somers Rd. project was recently brought to light. Hampden resident Joe Sibilia, a member of the ad hoc community group Save Hampden, which opposed the project, explained in an email to Reminder Publishing that he had sought the letter through a Public Records Request. Dated March 21, 2022, the letter was written after the petitioners filed a lawsuit against the town on Dec. 22, 2021. Matthews later told Reminder Publishing that the letter was in response to a request from one of the plaintiffs, Michael Cimmino, of Hampden, to “document ... what happened in the hearings.”
“Through all the Special Permit hearings I have participated in, I feel this one has been the dirtiest I have witnessed,” Matthews said in the letter.
Matthews cited several incidents, among them, “disruptive” comments made by members of the public, including a member of the public being asked to leave the meeting due to “disrupting the hearing.” After a sweltering day in August 2021 resulted in a hearing being adjourned to a later date, Matthews said, “social media” used this to “slander” a board member and the then-chair of the board, resulting in their resignations.
Matthews called out Board of Selectmen Chair Donald Davenport for attempts to “derail the process,” by questioning the accuracy of the information provided for the Special Permit and objecting to the process used to select replacements for the resigned members. Matthews also cited questions from the Board of Selectmen regarding the Stormwater Bylaw.
“[Davenport] wanted to shut down the project by stating the applicant had not complied with the Stormwater Bylaw,” Matthews stated in the letter.
Matthews then wrote that he was “shocked” that both newly appointed Planning Board members voted against the project, despite voting for the conditions that were hammered out over a four-hour meeting.
He concluded his letter by saying, “It is my belief that the Planning Board, through its review requests for revision to site plans, you have complied and met the requirements of the Zoning Bylaw; and the Special Permit should have been granted.”
Matthews said that he consulted an attorney friend before writing the letter, which he said was “all true,” and “my viewpoint only.” He said he realized afterward that writing the letter put the town counsel “in an undesirable position.”
“Everything I did was legal,” Matthews said.
Davenport commented that Matthews’s “disparaging comments regarding town residents and his fellow Planning Board members, both are best dealt with in an appropriate forum.”
He went on to say, “I certainly make no apology for working to ensure that state laws and Town Bylaws that are designed to protect the character of the town, residents’ property values and our precious water resources are followed.”
Mathews claimed the letter was made public to discredit him and affect the outcome of the May 16 Town Election in which he is seeking re-election to the Planning Board. Davenport, on the other hand, said, “It’s about people knowing what the rules are and that they are being followed equally regardless of the outcome.”
While the lawsuit against the town continues in Land Court, an article on the May 9 Annual Town Meeting Warrant would authorize the Board of Selectmen to pursue purchase of the property at 2 Somers Rd. A plan for future use of the land under town ownership has not yet been decided.