North Adams Planners OK Redwood Redo, New State Road Gas Station
.JPG) Ben Svenson explains plans for the Redwood Motel that were approved on Monday night by the Planning Board. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Plans to transform the Redwood Motel into a contemporary motor court was approved by the Planning Board on Monday.
The motel concept was one of several applications that brought out abuttors for an unusually well-attended meeting.
Developer The Beyond Place LLC is proposing to demolish one unattached wing of rooms, reconfigure the driveway, construct two similar buildings on the north side of the Redwood property and generally renovate and landscape the existing buildings.
"We are happy to being bring it back to life and I would say a certain core of design features of what we're trying to do here is take the energy from 1961 up the road aways to 2015," said Ben Svenson of Boston-based development firm Broder Properties and a principal in The Beyond Places.
Svenson said the new one-story wings would be similar to what is on the 50-year-old property now but would be more contemporary and oriented to the interior of the property or toward the Hoosic River, with new decks to take advantage of the views and environment.
The innkeeper's house will be rehabbed, and a lobby and small bar for motel guests will be constructed in one of the current buildings. Svenson said there had been an idea of having a more public bar but it was decided to open it only to guests to avoid problems.
Several abuttors expressed concern about access to their property immediately west of the motel, citing instances when trespassers had smashed bottles in the area.
"I don't think it's as much how we keep people away, it's how we create a clientele who comes to this place who doesn't want to smash bottles against your back fence," said Eric Kerns, project manager, to laughter.
The special permit application is only for Phase 1, but Svenson detailed some of the ideas for Phase 2, which would extend toward the river to create a "wedding campus," camp lodging and river access.
"The Shea family originally owned the property and the state took control of it to create this boat access there," he said, pointing on a map to the launch area at Ashton Avenue. "We've been in a conversation with the Department of Fish and Game about the boat access, to understand if there's a opportunity."
There were not plans to expand across the river at this time, he said, in response to a questions.
The motel project was approved with the condition Svenson and his group work with the neighbors on fencing, lighting landscaping.
Two other projects, however, ran into more vocal complaints from abuttors: Ernest Perry's plans to open "Odds & Ends," a secondhand store at the former LaValley Oil Co. at 118 Eagle St. and Summit Distributing LLC's to demolish the old Gibb's station at 330 State Road for a new convenience store and gas station.
Perry's application was opposed by abuttor Barbara Canale-Schmidt and her husband, Karl Schmidt, because of the narrowness of the shared access that is in Perry's deed. Canale-Schmidt said it was only 7 feet compared to the city's required 20 feet.
"They block our driveway, their occupants and visitors load in our driveway ... it's supposed to be an egress," she said, adding there were issues with snowplowing and trespassing.
Perry countered that "oil trucks went in and out of there every day and they're 8-feet wide."
Canale-Schmidt also tried to bring up the building's condition, and she and Perry went back and forth over disagreements as to the tenor of their relationship, but Chairman Michael Leary brought the conversation to a halt. The board had no purview over neighbor arguments or the condition of the building, which fell to the building department, he said.
Wayne Wilkinson, the City Council's liaison to the Planning Board, asked if Perry had a secondhand license since he had not appeared before the council. Perry said he had paid for the license but was not aware he also needed council approval.
Planners debated whether to continue the hearing until the state of the license could be determined but Building Inspector William Meranti reminded them that Perry's application was reaching the 90-day mark: the July meeting had been canceled for lack of quorum and he had been continued in August until he could come to an agreement on tax repayments. Lack of a decision on his application would mean automatic approval.
The store was approved with the conditions that he have nothing outside, including any unregistered, unlicensed or uninsured vehicles, that the entryway not be blocked, and that if he breaches his tax agreement with the city, the permit is voided. He would still need an approved license to open.
MHF Design consultant Huseyin Sevincgil and Summit President Tom Frawley, both of New Hampshire, presented the board with plans to redevelop the Getty Station at 330 State Road by demolishing the current 500 square-foot building and replacing it with a 4,000 square-foot store perpendicular to State Road. The property would also have a new canopy and tanks.
The eastern of the two entrances would be eliminated and the access point to Greylock Avenue would be reduced to 30 feet through landscaping. It is expected to take about 120 days to build and will be open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Brian and Barbara Allard, who own the house on the east side of the property, were worried about traffic, noise and lighting. The plans had changed since she had last seen them, said Allard.
Sevincgil said the building was reoriented because of the required setbacks and that putting it parallel and close to Allards' rental property driveway actually would actually block noise and lighting.
Barbara Allard questioned the setbacks, asking for changes, but Leary told the her that the board could not reject an application that was within the ordinance requirements. Frawley said he was open to meeting with them to address any concerns.
Also approved was the transformation of the former Carr Hardware building at 192 State St. into New Hope Methodist Church. The Methodist congregations in both North Adams and Williamstown had sold their historic buildings because of declining numbers and maintenance needs. The joined parish has been meeting in rented building on Water Street in Williamstown.
A number of neighbors of the Marion Avenue area had planned to attend the meeting under the impression the church was going in the former minister's home at the corner of State Road and Marion.
In other business, planners listed a number of compliance issues they wanted Meranti to check on, including unmaintained paving at Valley Park Bowl, the status of the former BP station at Eagle and Canal, and the number of vehicles at Mohawk Auto.
• Meranti reported that the former Gibbs station on State Road is expected to be completely removed and the lot returned to grass. The tanks have already been removed and an asbestos abatement done.
• Signage was approved for Village Ambulance's new transportation service at 350 State Road.
• The board set a joint public hearing on an ordinance change for rebuilding on nonconforming lots with the City Council on Oct. 5 at 5:30 p.m.
Tags: church, motels, hotels, Planning Board, secondhand,
