ADAMS, Mass. — The Planning Board has approved the demolition of the former Goodwill property on 160 Howland Ave. to make way for a gas station and 5,000 square-foot convenience store. 

 

"We look forward to this project," Planning board Chairwoman Sandra Moderski said Monday after the board unanimously approved the site plan and a curb cut on Butler Street. "We think it is going to be a very nice addition to our Route 8 corridor." 

 

RSP Petroleum representative Halim Choubah, with Choubah Engineering Group, said the entire property is nearly 3.7 acres, however, focus of the development is on two acres. 

 

He said he has worked closely with the town and lighting, signage, parking and other aspects of the project are compliant with the town's zoning bylaws. 

 

"We have had several informal meetings with the building inspector and the town planner prior to finalizing this so we worked in conjunction with the town," Choubah said. "The town had input and we used it to tweak our plan."  

 

He said the convenience store itself will have a drive-through along the back and there will be five pumping stations in front of the store. He added that off to the side of the store, there will be a diesel filling station. 

 

There will be two entrances on Howland Avenue and one on Butler Street. The area will be repaved and a 9,400-foot vegetation buffer will be planted between the road and the gas station. 

 

"The plan for the site and building is pretty conforming to the neighborhood and I would say it is nicer than what is there now," Choubah said. 

 

The site, which also had housed bread and bakery outlet years ago, has been empty since Goodwill moved to North Adams in 2012. 

 

Choubah said there will also be improvements made to the drainage system and all runoff will be collected onsite and be treated by oil water separators before going into an onsite filtration system.

 

The project gained approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals earlier this month and was given permission to operate 24 hours.

 

Planning Board member David Rhinemiller's first concern was northbound traffic turning into the station without a designated turning lane.

 

Choubah said he did not see it as a problem because the gas station would be no different than many of the other businesses on Route 8 that do not have a designated turning lane.

 

Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco said the state plans to redo the entire highway between 2018 and 2020 and may add a turning lane if deemed appropriate but the goal is to narrow the four-lane Howland Avenue to two lanes.

 

"The whole road is getting completely redone and our goal is to calm down traffic going down Howland Avenue," Mazzucco said. "It is just too fast so we want to do is slow it down and make it less like a highway."  

 

He added that most of the patrons will be southbound anyways because drivers typically do not like to cross the street. 

 

Moderski added that she was worried about the two access points on Howland Avenue because they are not designated as an entrance and an exit. She felt it could cause confusion, especially with a drive-through lane that is one way.

 

Mazzucco said adding in designated entrances and exits could overcomplicate the site and other gas stations really all follow the same model. 

 

"If you see the one in Cheshire, I hate to say it, but this project is going to be just like that one," he said. "You can enter the gas station on either side but the drive-through you can only enter on one side." 

 

The Planning Board was also hesitant about traffic flow on the site itself and worried that between the drive-through and deliveries there could be confusion.  

 

Choubah said the property is almost 4 acres and although it may look tight on the plans, there is plenty of room.

 

"The distance between the parking and the pumps is 30 feet so it is not congested at all ... typically you would see this layout on a much smaller site," he said. "We wanted to make this as comfortable and as safe as possible."

 

Moderski asked if the Traffic Commission looked at the plans.

 

Police Chief Richard Tarsa, who is also chairman of the Traffic Commission, said the commission did not review the plans but they looked feasible to him.

 

"I am not throwing a wrench into the system by any means because I think this is a viable, good plan for the property," he said. "It's a good idea but usually something like this we see."

 

He said he, too, was concerned about the gas deliveries interfering with the drive-through and thought it may be beneficial to only allow vehicular traffic to use the Butler Street entrance and keep tractor-trailer trucks off the side road. 

 

Tarsa added that the curb cut on Butler Street already exists, it has just been blocked. He said the location has had many different tenants over the years and heavy traffic but he anticipated a gas station would see a much higher volume of traffic. 

 

Moderski first suggested that the Traffic Commission look at the plans at a later date, however, Mazzucco said the commission in past practice has not reviewed development plans. 

 

Choubah said it would not be a problem to erect signs and add more ground markings to alleviate any possible confusion.

 

Planning Board member Barbara Ziemba asked if Racine's Farm Stand would still be able to have a sign on the property. Racine's is located on Old Columbia Street and most patrons use Butler Street to get to it. 

 

Choubah said the owner would not have a problem working with the Racines as long as the sign followed the town's zoning bylaws.