Early last week, a planning and economic development committee of the Springfield City Council met at a site being considered for a new Golden Corral chain restaurant on the shores of Loon Pond near Boston Road.
The city’s Planning and Economic Development staff—not to be confused with the committee of elected officials, or the separate Planning Board—had already submitted a report (PDF) outlining its related analysis on the matter. Specifically the analysis addressed a request for a zoning change for three of the four wooded, vacant parcels comprising the site, apparently submitted by businessman Peter Lee of North Carolina, via his LLC, Northern Star Enterprise.
Lee would like a small business loan, he told Mike Plaisance of the Republican, which first requires the zoning change from Residence B to Business A. He has already spent $30,000 on a plan for the site, much of it presumably going to the engineers and designers at VHB, Inc., who developed the site plan (below).
The plan shows a waterfront restaurant surrounded by an ocean of 129 parking spaces—definitely not something that would pass muster under the newly-approved State Street Interim Overlay District.
Adjacent to the site, on the northern and eastern sides, are single-family homes. Planning staff noted that the site plan does not indicate any proposed landscaping to help buffer “this large commercial development” for the residential abutter to the north or the residents across Parker Street. “Additionally,” the analysis states, “the staff believes that these parcels are unique in that they provide waterfront views. The current site plan and design does not respond to the unique characteristics of the site.”
It appears as though, in the planning staff’s eyes, the proposed restaurant may more or less turn its back on Loon Pond. In addition, the would-be developer has not done the required homework to determine the high-water mark for the body of water. The pond is one of three in the city that meets state-imposed standards for swimming, the planning staff analysis asserts, but it’s also on a state list of “impaired” waters, and could lose its swimming status. From the analysis:
Recognizing this, the City of Springfield is currently in the process of implementing a number of programs which will protect this significant natural resource. Most notable, the City has recently purchased a 4.2-acre parcel located on the northwest corner of the pond for park-related uses, giving the City approximately nine acres of protected land along the banks of this scenic pond.
Additionally, the City has discussed other potential acquisitions with interested property owners and has partnered with the Expeditionary Learning School to conduct water quality tests on Loon Pond.
The report goes on to reiterate the need for a required full review by the city’s Conservation Commission, which is presumably underway in partnership with VHB.
The city’s Natural Resource Manager also completed a review, it states, which brought a number of issues to light. Of primary concern was the fact that the developer had not actually flagged the high-water mark along the pond’s shore, determining what the analysis calls the wetland delineation line. Instead, the developer simply obtained the city’s GIS map and had an engineer conduct a “brief on-site tour,” and allowed that to suffice for a wetland delineation line in the site plan. An inspection by the city’s Natural Resource Manager is required to verify the developer’s assessment of the high-water line; this can’t be done until the line is properly flagged. Apparently, this would cost an additional $5,000 to $10,000 to do correctly.
Lee told the Republican he’d “love to build in this city,” but he needs a vote yes or no on this zoning change. Yet in order for the zoning change vote to be properly-informed, Lee is in a position to put up more initial cash, perhaps reluctantly.
“The staff continues to have strong reservations about the encroachment of business uses onto residentially-zoned land,” the planning department’s analysis continues. “The Boston Road corridor offers a number of opportunities for commercial development, and should be explored fully before a re-zoning of residential land is considered. It is the opinion of the staff that the potential impacts on Loon Pond, traffic and the residential abutters outweigh the public benefit of re-zoning from residence to business for the project, as currently configured and presented.”
