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The Zoning Board allowed the public hearing on the proposed Cumberland Farms to be continued to allow the company to meet informally with abuttors.

Cumberland Farms Hearing Continued Until After Community Meeting

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
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ADAMS, Mass. — The Zoning Board of Appeals once again continued the Cumberland Farms public hearing so the company can hold a community meeting.
 
For the second time this summer, the convenience store chain has requested a continuation of its public hearing on its proposal to build a new gas station on Commercial Street. The hearing has been rescheduled to Sept. 11.
 
"I appreciate everyone coming out on this rainy night and I hate to bear of news … but we have received correspondence from the attorney … asking for a formal request … to continue the public hearing," Chairman Peter West said Tuesday night.
 
Cumberland Farms wants to demolish Al's Service Center at 95 Commercial St. as well as two other structures, all owned by Carol Ostrowski, and build a gas station/convenience store just south of its older location that will be closed.
 
This has not sat well with abuttors who voiced their numerous concerns at a Zoning Board of Appeals public hearing  in June, which prompted the Cumberland Farms representatives to take this input back to the designers. 
 
Cumberland Farms has asked to continue hearing from July 24 to Tuesday's meeting and West said this second continuation will allow Cumberland Farms time to meet with the abuttors to go over the project.
 
"Since the last meeting, what has happened is Cumberland Farms have realized that there is a little bit of resistance," West said. "At this point after having two meetings they have decided that they want to have a community meeting with folks involved."
 
A community meeting has yet to be scheduled.
 
The board's main concern was about traffic increases and its impacts on the narrow Prospect Street. Members also questioned tractor trailer maneuverability and a 24-hour operation in a residential district.
 
Residents had many of the same issues and felt the gas station would decrease their property values and cause unwanted noise and attention in the neighborhood.  
 
The board unanimously voted to extend the hearing and agreed it would be a good idea to hold a meeting at which a compromise could perhaps be met.
 
"I think it is probably a good idea for Cumberland Farms to meet one on one with you folks and learn what's going on and hopefully come up with something that may work as a compromise or may not," West said. "I believe it is in everybody's best interest at this point to grant this extension."
 
There had been a concern among some residents that the neighborhood was losing interest but more people attended Tuesday's hearing than the one last month.

Tags: ZBA,   cumberland farms,   

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Adams Sees No Races So Far

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
ADAMS, Mass. — With less than a week left before nomination papers are due, there are currently no contested seats.
 
Only selectman incumbent John Duval has returned papers. Selectman Howard Rosenberg has decided not to seek re-election. 
 
Rosenberg, who was elected in 2021, said he has chosen not to run again to make room for younger candidates.
 
"I feel strongly, we need younger people running for public office,  as the future of our town lies within the younger  generation. The world is so fundamentally different today and rapidly changing to become even more so. I believe we need people who are less interested in trying to bring back the past, then in paving the way for a promising future. The younger generation can know that they can stay here and have a voice without having to leave for opportunities elsewhere," he said.
 
The only person to return papers so far is former member the board Donald Sommer. Sommer served as a selectman from 2007 to 2010 and before that was a member of the School Committee and the Redevelopment Authority. He ran unsuccessfully for selectman in 2019 and again in 2021 but dropped out of before the election.
 
Incumbent Moderator Myra Wilk and Town Clerk Haley Meczywor have returned papers for their respective positions.
 
Assessor Paula Wheeler has returned papers and incumbents James Loughman and Eugene Michalenko have returned papers for library trustees.
 
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