EAST?LONGMEADOW – The East Longmeadow Planning Board met on Dec. 4 to discuss a series of zoning amendments as well as public hearings. This meeting included a discussion about the commercial vehicle definition under the Town of East Longmeadow Zoning Bylaw, a new business coming to town called Pho Delicious and Brownstone Gardens’ plans to add to their units.

The Planning Board first addressed Brownstone Gardens, an age 62 and older independent living community located on Somers Road and Pleasant Street in East Longmeadow. Planning Board member Russell Denver excused himself from this portion of the meeting, as he is on the Board of Directors at Brownstone.

President of Brownstone Gardens and Board of Directors member Christopher Carr came before the Planning Board, stating that they were at the meeting for a “limited review.” He continued to explain that they’re trying to “bring Brownstone into the 21st century.” By this, he shared that they’re looking to add elevators to each unit, as well as a laundry facility. In addition to the site plan review request, Brownstone brought forth a request for endorsement of a plan believed to not require subdivision approval to merge 75 Pleasant St. and 79 Pleasant St. to create a lot along Pleasant St.

The object of the changes brought forth in the site plan review, Carr explained, is to make it easier for second floor residents to get up and down stairs. Additionally, putting a laundry facility in each unit will be convenient for residents so they do not need to travel outdoors to the community building with their laundry in the winter.

Other upgrades Brownstone Gardens is looking to make include ADA improvements: new roofs, wider parking spaces and new ramps.

Looking to the future, Carr shared that currently Brownstone is under four corporations which, he noted, can be a “governance nightmare.” He stated that Brownstone’s goal is to have Brownstone Gardens One and Two sell their parcels to Brownstone Gardens Incorporated so that they can go from four corporations to two corporations. Ultimately, he noted, their next goal is to add one more building and go down to one single corporation. Circling back to their present goal, Carr asked for site plan approval for the elevators and laundry facilities as well as an endorsement for the merge of the two parcels.

The Board moved to approve the site plan conditional upon the recording of the ANR plan.

The meeting continued, discussing Zoning Amendments, where a definition was provided for clarification to the town’s Zoning Bylaw in regard to commercial vehicles. The proposed definition reads, “Commercial Vehicle: any vehicle currently registered as such with the state Department of Motor Vehicles or equivalent out–of–state or federal agency and is used primarily in the conduct of a business, as evidenced by signage or other commercial enhancements to the vehicle, as opposed to private family or individual use. Where appropriate, the plural shall include the singular.”

Planning Board Chair George Kingston suggested one change to this definition: vehicles are registered at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, not the Department of Motor Vehicles. With this change, the Planning Board approved this zoning amendment definition unanimously.

A special permit for new restaurant Pho Delicious was brought to a public hearing at the Planning Board meeting. Pho Delicious is a Vietnamese restaurant which will be moving into 14 Maple St., also known as the former Greenwich. After a discussion regarding how many seats are allowed in the restaurant space, a motion was passed to issue a special permit for Pho Delicious using the same verbiage of Greenwich’s original permit with the stipulation that 54 seats is the maximum number of seats that can be in the space.

To watch the rest of the Dec. 4 Planning Board meeting, go to ELCAT’s broadcast at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg7K44CeTF4&t=237s.