Wal-Mart is back before board with 3 new scenarios

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on March 09, 2007

HADLEY - Three revised concepts for a Wal-Mart Supercenter at Hampshire Mall, all without a gas station and auto repair shop, have come before town planners.

In an effort to resume the process of site plan approval for a 309,172-square-foot expansion of the mall that has been stalled since late 2005, representatives from Pyramid Co. came before the Planning Board Tuesday.

James Purdy, of the Newton-based Louis Berger Group, told the board that each of the "preferred alternatives," all of which include a 212,000-square-foot Wal-Mart store, is an improvement on the original plans.

Purdy said that the three options serve to protect a large parcel of farmland at the eastern end of the property closest to the regional U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service building, to create a vegetated buffer between the Norwottuck Rail Trail and the new buildings, and to remove what were perceived to be the most controversial aspects of the previous plans.

"We've eliminated the gas station and automotive services from the project," Purdy said.

Developers commended

Board member Lisa Sanderson commended the developers on this.

"I think that's an excellent improvement," Sanderson said. All three plans would site the Wal-Mart on a parcel behind the Howard Johnson hotel, with primary access from Westgate Center Drive, where there are currently a Staples, Applebee's restaurant and Five College Credit Union.

Yet despite more than a year spent revising the plans, critics of the project attending the hearing didn't seem to have changed their feelings about it.

"My first reaction is, 'It took them a whole year to come up with this?'" said Andy Morris-Friedman of Roosevelt Street.

"It's mostly the same, and taking out the gas station is a tactic to defuse the opposition," Morris-Friedman said.

"The whole thing is still too big for Hadley."

Two people held up a sign reading "Hadley/Wal-Mart Have Mercy on Us. Sincerely, the Rest of the Valley."

Purdy said that no formal site plan has yet been submitted to the board because the development team is still waiting to learn whether an existing storm-water detention basin, just east of the Target store, can be removed. The Hadley Conservation Commission last year ruled this 12,600-square-foot pond was a wetland, a ruling upheld by the state's Department of Environmental Protection.

But a further appeal has been filed.

The first option, called the Draft Environmental Impact Report alternative, would locate the Wal-Mart within 114 feet of the Norwottuck Rail Trail but permanently protect the storm-water basin. It would feature a 75,000-square-foot secondary retail store, smaller than the 90,000-square-foot store called for in the initial plans.

The second option, the potential full build-out alternative, is identical to the first alternative, but assumes the removal of the storm-water basin in a second phase so that the full 90,000-square-foot store can be constructed.

The third option, known as the modified Environmental Notification Form alternative, puts the store 214 feet away from the rail trail but removes the storm-water basin immediately upon development of the Wal-Mart store.

Westgate widened

In all three scenarios, Westgate Center Drive would be widened to accommodate extra traffic, and the intersection of Routes 116 and 9 would be reconfigured.

Steve Savaria, a senior traffic engineer with Fuss & O'Neill of West Springfield, said other modifications would be done on South Maple Street, including a raised median at the northernmost entrance to the Hampshire Mall to prevent left turns in and out, a signalized intersection at the southern entrance to the mall that would also serve the Mountain Farms Mall, and a painted crosswalk, new signs and flashing beacons for the rail trail's crossing of the street.

"Our intent here is to increase the recognition there is a pedestrian and bicycle crossing," Savaria said.

Board Clerk William Dwyer said this could be confusing for people on the rail trail accustomed to having to stop at public ways, as well as to drivers who are not required to stop at rail trail junctions.

"I'm concerned you're sending a mixed message," Dwyer said.

But Savaria said that building an overpass or underpass was not feasible due to safety concerns, even though in December 2005 town planners said that one of those would likely be mandated for the project to be approved.

The resumed hearings come as the developers have completed a Draft Environmental Impact Report and filed it with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act office.

People may comment on this project through April 6.