Minutes of April 10, 2006

Present were: Donald Anderson, Chairman; Louis Calabrese, Vice Chairman;

Michael Przybylowicz, Clerk; Marilyn Richards and Thomas Morrissette. The meeting was held at the High School auditorium.

ANR - Vineland Avenue - Michael Carabetta

Mr. Carabetta asked the Board to reconsider their vote on his ANR for Vineland Avenue. He explained he felt there was a misunderstanding and showed the members that he would be adding square footage to 2 non-conforming lots thus creating the required frontage for both lots, not creating a non-conforming lot. Mr. Carabetta further explained that he believed the Board did not understand the division previously when they denied his application. Mr. Anderson asked the Board for any questions to which Ms. Richards stated that the Board would first need to rescind their previous vote if they were inclined to review this plan again. Ms. Richards also added that Mr. Carabetta already had been issued building permits for the lots as they exist. She said the Board was potentially voting to change the lot lines to create frontage but the problem she saw is that the lots are not building lots because of lack of lot size. She added that she was not sure how they should respond to the application as a Board because the building permits were already issued. She said that they are not building lots according to the zoning by-laws regardless if the Zoning setbacks were met.

Mr. Carabetta said that he is aware that he must reapply for the building permits based on the new lot lines and that he does need to adhere to all the setbacks. Ms. Richards stated that she wanted the discussion as part of the record. That being said, Mr. Anderson recused himself from the first vote as he was not in attendance at the previous meeting. Upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board voted (4-0) to rescind their prior vote. With no further discussion and upon motion duly made and seconded the Board voted (5-0) to approve the ANR as presented.

Public Hearing – Amendment to the East Longmeadow Zoning By-Law

Chair, Donald Anderson opened the public hearing, explained the rules of the public hearing and introduced the Board members. Clerk, Michael Przybylowicz read the legal notice into the record. Marilyn Richards read correspondence into the record by summarizing postcards received from townspeople who had responded to the legal notice for the hearing. A copy of the summary presented together with a list of names of those who sent in postcards is attached hereto and incorporated herein.

At this time, the Chairman introduced Petitioner James Driscoll, and asked him to present his proposal. Mr. Driscoll explained that he, as a member of the Board of Selectmen, submitted this proposal in an attempt to place a cap on large retail stores coming into Massachusetts, more specifically East Longmeadow in the business and industrial zones. He further explained that this proposal was not intended to be an anti-Lowe’s proposal. Mr. Driscoll stated that the proposal was an anti-mega size retail stores moving into East Longmeadow and the Selectmen believe that it is a pro-business proposal that would support the small businesses that are locally owned and help keep them in business, preventing unfair competition for the small businesses.

Mr. Driscoll continued by stating that, if one looks at the locations for existing big box stores, they are currently on massive state supported roads, with four lanes for travel. He further stated that the impact on safety and the quality of life that these types of stores would have at the North Main Street location or other potential East Longmeadow locations would be devastating to our community. He said that as a Selectman, he proposed the change to the Planning Board and there has been correspondence back and forth from members of the Planning Board and citizens in town. Mr. Driscoll said the proposed by-law would only impact businesses used for retail sales purposes and the goal they have is to stop big chain super retail stores from moving into town.

Lynn Smith, 18 Lombard Avenue stated that she was the spokesperson for a group of very concerned citizens called East Longmeadow First. She said that East Longmeadow First strongly endorses the proposed size cap limit on retail buildings in East Longmeadow and she offered 10 reasons to vote in favor. She said they urge the Planning Board to help them manage growth and protect the future of our community by supporting the proposed by-law. Ms. Smith said that dozens of communities across the country have adopted dimensional limits in their zoning codes as a way of managing growth and maintaining the scale and character of the community. She said that the proposal is good for the community.

Al Norman, Land Use Consultant to Jim Driscoll, said he has recently worked with several communities in Maine that passed an ordinance very similar to that being proposed by Selectman Driscoll. Mr. Norman said that the ordinance being proposed is similar to an ordinance in Idaho and he provided a copy to the Board. Mr. Norman said in the proposed ordinance there is language dealing with the attempt to prevent a developer from undermining the goal of limiting the size of buildings by building multiple buildings on one or more lots under common ownership. Mr. Norman continued by stating that the language in Selectmen Driscoll’s proposal is very similar to that in other states and in other towns. He said he had a memo from Robyn Macdonald dealing with comments from Attorney Mark Beglane. In that memo, Attorney Beglane warns of grave consequences from the ordinance and Mr. Norman, not agreeing, wanted to respond. He said the memo says that the by-law does not deal with use, however, he contended that the by-law does deal with use because it covers buildings that have a retail sales purpose only. He also did not agree with the information relating to office buildings. Mr. Norman said the memo also states that existing businesses will not be able to make any alterations, however, the ordinance says nothing about alterations. He then added that there was a reference to hurting the tax base. Mr. Norman opined that it would help East Longmeadow’s tax base because big box stores come with tremendous public cost. Mr. Norman also stated that some people have asked if this kind of ordinance was legal and can it be challenged? Mr. Norman stated that in his experience he has seen 2 law suits over such an ordinance, however he felt that such an ordinance was good for East Longmeadow and he urges the Planning Board to recommend the adoption of the amendment as submitted.

Mr. Anderson said he had one comment regarding Attorney Beglane and his comments and that is that Attorney Beglane is a distinguished member of the East Longmeadow Zoning Board of Appeals and he did not have the luxury of seeing the new version provided at this hearing and his well stated comments were based on a previous and only version that was available.

Mr. Anderson then addressed the audience for questions.

Russell Sabadosa, 16 Spring Valley Road asked how many parcels this would impact and of those parcels how many are undeveloped. Mr. Anderson said that it affects all of the businesses in the entire zone.

Steve Loyack, 60 Smith Avenue asked if the Planning Board had taken into consideration the guidelines that the Federal Government has in place for wetlands. Mr. Anderson said that the Planning Board always takes into consideration comments from our Conservation Commission. However, he added, at this particular point if any potential retail development is submitted, the comments from the Conservation Commission would be considered at that time, however at this hearing, the Board is only dealing with the zone change issue.

Bob Goodrich, 17 Silver Street said he was very pleased with what our East Longmeadow people have done in bringing this proposal to the public. He asked if we find that the residential boundaries are growing as quickly and would this by-law include the addition of a large market for food processing in other areas other than North Main Street? Mr. Driscoll said he thinks by increasing the cap from 40,000 to 65,000 square feet that is about the foot print of Big Y and Stop & Shop.

Tim Mahoney, Senior Director of Real Estate for Stop & Shop said he has some great concerns about the approach and he thinks it is very dangerous for the Planning Board to take such an approach as they appear to be taking. He stated that he believed that the town would be giving away a lot of their opportunity to apply smart growth and to apply basic fundamental planning principals in deciding how retail should develop. He also stated that Stop & Shop is roughly around 55,000 square feet and it is part of a larger building of other shops so immediately it is above the 65,000 square feet cap they are talking about; and as a result, the town would be putting Stop & Shop (which is smaller is than the Big Y) immediately at a competitive disadvantage. Mr. Mahoney said if he wanted to add a single square foot whether it was for benefits for his employees, improvements for storage and loading to make those functions quieter, safer, more worker-friendly he could not do it unless he went to the Zoning Board and asked for a variance.

Mr. Driscoll said he respected Mr. Mahoney’s perspective and added that it was not something that the Selectmen threw together, they worked weeks on the project and he said if he was a supermarket executive he would prefer complete freedom without any restriction at all. He also stated, however, we live here and we really want to make sure that our infrastructure can support the type of retail environment they want to invite. He said that it does not put anyone at a disadvantage, in fact it evens the playing field, it would be consistent for every retail store in town.

Roland Bolduc, 110 Smith Avenue said he has been in town for about 18 years and has seen it grow and really never paid much attention to the traffic until he tried to pull out of Lombard Avenue onto North Main Street. He said that the traffic is getting pretty crazy, almost out of hand, and asked if the town wanted to put that big box there to make it worse. He said he agrees with keeping retail stores small and medium.

Christine King, Parker Street said she grew up in East Longmeadow and she thinks the small town charm of East Longmeadow is going fast. She said Bluebird Acres is gone and Kelly Fradet will be in grave danger. She used to run in East Longmeadow now she fears for her life because there is so much traffic and she wrote an editorial to the paper because she nearly got hit by a car. She added that there is way too much traffic and it is just going to get worse.

Ron Cutler, 35 Dorset Street said he is directly impacted by traffic on a daily basis and he finds it almost impossible to get out of Dorset Street around 4:00 - 6:00 p.m. each day. He said he was not worried about Stop & Shop adding another aisle, he said that it was about what was best for the citizens of East Longmeadow and that he commends Mr. Driscoll for a great idea. He said the best thing for the town would be for Lowe’s never to happen.

Jill _________ (inaudible) from Agawam, current Chair for Citizens Against Reckless Development, said they spent a year trying to defeat a developer who wanted to build a 563,000 square feet retail building across the street from the high school in Agawam. She said they were facing 20,000 vehicle trips per day and they defeated the development at the polls. She added that it was the hardest thing they ever did in their lives, but they were very pleased it got defeated. She said they had a cap in their town on square footage. She added that her point was that it is an excellent idea to plan ahead, rather than to react to someone who is trying to come in trying change your town in that dramatic way. She said that she hopes it passes.

Keith Hayes, representative of the landowner for the proposed Lowe’s development, Edens & Avent. He said that they are the largest tax payer in the town and it will have some impacts on use not only on their ability to develop the proposed Lowe’s parcel, but also their existing center because any change they might want to make would require us to seek a section 61 finding from the ZBA, that means the slightest change because the existing center is over the 65,000 square foot cap. He said he believed it would not only effect them, it maybe geared towards us or the Lowe’s development but he thinks it does have some pretty significant impacts on many of the business owners in town. Mr. Hayes said the proposed Lowe’s will be developed responsibly and the town will have the availability to give their input and they will work with the town staff and we will strive to construct a development that everyone will be happy with and we believe that it is a responsible development and stated that he urges everyone to oppose the amendment.

Mr. Driscoll said that he appreciated Mr. Hayes’s comments but as a member of the Board of Selectmen he has never seen a formal or informal proposal from Lowe’s or any specific retail store or development at all. He said this proposal is not in direct response to anything you folks have done and while we welcome our business partners and we encourage them to develop in this town - we want to do is work with you on it but we are also concerned for our town. We are more than willing to welcome your development - it just has to fit into to the infrastructure and the quality of life in town.

Don Gamache, 22 Day Avenue said the gentleman that just spoke is from a different town and does not live here. He said he is in favor of the cap to keep all of the large stores out because we do not need the traffic and any others things that were mentioned tonight.

Tom Wheeler owner of AW Brown Pet and Garden Store, 144 Shaker Road. He said he has been doing business in town for over 20 years and would like to thank Jim Driscoll and the Planning Board for taking the initiative tonight to discuss our future. He said that he has been working with the East Longmeadow First Group and other business owners in town close to 6 months and we have all studied this very carefully.

Mr. Wheeler continued by stating that his building is only 25,000 square feet and he is certainly concerned about his future and the future of his company and thinks that it is very important to keep things into perspective. He said the size cap is a dramatic step in the right direction for small business owners in town and part of the quality of life in this community revolves around what small businesses do and what we give back to the community. He said as a business owner himself he feels blessed and fortunate to be able to conduct business in East Longmeadow because of things they could do in the community that they can give back and the things the community has done for them that allows them to give back.

Mr. Wheeler also stated that business owners in the valley who have had to deal with large retail growth in their communities did not have a positive experience. Mr. Wheeler said a size cap which has been proposed in many surrounding communities in New England is a very smart thing and he encourages the Board to take some serious action to vote in favor of it. He said the economic impact on small businesses in the community would be huge and big boxes often do $50,000,000 in sales each year and 80% of that business will come within 5 miles of the store. He said that means that it comes from the small business, that means they are generating sales from businesses that are currently in business and it is a very important economic statement to make because it is true and it happens all across the country. Mr. Wheeler said that it could certainly happen here if they were not careful, and on behalf of other businesses in the community and on behalf of AW Brown he asks the residents and the Board to vote in favor of the amendment.

Mr. Anderson asked the Board for any questions or comments. He said out of fairness we do have a revision of the plan so we need to sift through it as well. He then thanked everyone for their comments and assured the audience that their concerns will be addressed and considered when the Board had its opportunity to discuss this proposal.

Mr. Morrissette asked Mr. Norman to explain his response to one of Attorney Beglane’s points regarding how the site could be used if this by-law passed. Mr. Norman said a cap of 65,000 square feet - compare it to a football field of 48,000 square feet - any developer who exists in East Longmeadow or wants to come in would have the ability to build a facility that is about 1½ times the size of a football field, that is enormous. In fact, that land could be used for a variety of purposes, except for trying to build something larger than 65,000 square feet.

Mr. Norman continued by stating that if the current owner wants to put up several buildings, they could do that as long as they don’t exceed in total the size of 1½ times of a football field, which would make it one of the largest retail complexes in East Longmeadow.

Mr. Morrissette said you already have the building that they own within 100 feet of that property, Stop & Shop Plaza is owned by the same owners, so now they have 132,000 square feet of strip mall and they also own the 30+ acres behind them if they are in common ownership, in your by-law they cannot use that property at all. Mr. Norman said he did not think that was the case, it is a separate parcel and they are setting up another corporation. Mr. Morrissette said in essence, it is common ownership and it is within the 1,500 feet that you have requested. Mr. Norman said he did not think that was true, he would have to measure it out.

Mr. Driscoll said again he has never been approached by the owners of the property and again it isn’t about Lowe’s is it about managing growth so his is not aware of who bought what, they have never consulted with the Selectmen so he cannot comment to their business plan.

Ms. Richards said that they are talking about retail so there are other uses that could be applied to the property. She said that retail is where the restrictions are being placed – that it was the industrial zone and the most relaxed zone in the entire town, besides from residential houses you can do a lot of other creative things in these zones.

Mr. Driscoll said that they were only talking about retail uses, 65,000 - a football field and a half - he said that it was not Martha’s Vineyard but it is a huge building and it will equal and create level playing field for all retail stores in town. He asked if the Board was planning on voting at a planning Board meeting prior to the Town Meeting.

Mr. Anderson said the Board has to discuss the proposal, especially due to the fact that the presentation was different than the proposal submitted, and that it would happen at one of the Planning Board’s meetings prior to town meeting. Mr. Anderson asked the Board for any other comments. There being none at this time and upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board voted unanimously (5-0) to close the hearing.

There being no further business and upon motion duly made and seconded, the Board voted unanimously to close the public meeting at 8:30 p.m.

For the Board,

Michael Przybylowicz, Clerk