WESTFIELD – A proposed moratorium on truck terminals failed 5-8 in a Feb. 3 City Council vote, as the majority of councilors worried about the message it would send to businesses.

The petition for the zoning amendment that would have put in place the moratorium came out of the Feb. 3 meeting of the Zoning, Planning and Development (ZPD) Committee, chaired by at-large Councilor Dave Flaherty.

Committee members recommended a moratorium in a 3-0 vote after some discussion about whether to limit the wording to truck terminals, or to include warehouses and distribution centers as originally proposed.

The zoning amendment would have prohibited new truck terminals, warehouses and distribution centers until 180 days after the Planning Board’s adoption of a new Master Plan and the collection of air quality monitoring data, or Dec. 31, 2023, whichever came first.

“They expect the Master Plan process to be completed in 2023 in the first or second quarter,” Flaherty said during the Council meeting.

Flaherty said one problem he saw with the language in the amendment was the different approval authorities for the different categories being targeted. For example, the City Council approves truck terminals, while the Planning Board approves distribution centers.

“My motion would be to pass this forward as-is and let the public hearing process determine whether warehouses and distribution centers are in there,” Flaherty said at the ZPD meeting.

Committee member Nicholas J. Morganelli Jr. said the wording was too broad, and suggested limiting it to size.

“We don’t want many, many truck trips. This looks like shutting down business,” he said.

However, he added that he would support the moratorium because of the many letters of support he had received for it from his constituents in Ward 1.
During the City Council meeting later that evening, councilors were much more reluctant, and said the moratorium would send the wrong message.

“I’m going to be a ‘no’ on this. I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to put a moratorium on at a time when we’re trying to market and develop this city,” said Ward 5 Councilor John J. Beltrandi III.

Ward 3 Councilor Bridget Matthews-Kane, the third member of ZPD who voted to recommend the moratorium, said she would normally agree with Beltrandi, “except for one thing, because we’re going to be doing a plan for the city.” She said in the opinion from City Solicitor Shanna Reed it wouldn’t even be legal without the time limit and reasoning behind it.

At-large Councilor Brent Bean II said he was going to “follow suit” with Beltrandi.

“Every project should be valued on its own merit. I feel that we already have plenty of hurdles to jump and planning processes in place. I know the traffic we’re seeing on the North Side. One hundred eighty days is not a lot of time for anything – not sure what that would slow down, but it definitely sends a message out there to surrounding areas that Westfield definitely doesn’t want these things –but we might want one down the road,” Bean said.

Flaherty clarified that the moratorium would end 180 days after the Master Plan is approved.

“I’m going to be a ‘no’ on this as well. Things need to be thought through,” said at-large Councilor Dan Allie. “The purpose of a master plan should be well thought out. When things go in front of the Planning Board, they do an amazing job of vetting things. I’d rather have things well thought out and discussed openly,” he said.

“I absolutely support this and for more than the obvious reason. My number one reason is that you can’t ask a bunch of [Department of Transportation] engineers to solve a problem when you’re constantly moving the finish line,” said at-large Councilor Kristen Mello.

She added, “You’re asking them to handle the trucks we have now. We do need to think this through, I think councilors Matthews-Kane and Allie are absolutely correct. You can’t keep moving the bar. We’re never going to solve a problem if we’re constantly adding to it. We’ve already hit a limit where a moratorium is rational and sane, and anything else just adds more problems for the people that are trying to solve them.”

“I can certainly hear both sides of this issue. What good does a temporary moratorium do – what message does it send to the business community? Where does it put Westfield on the map as far as being business-friendly? I’ve gotten quite a few emails, and I talk to people. I just had breakfast with two gentlemen from Ward 1 – anything that can reduce trucks, even if temporary, many, many residents have spoken to me about. The speed is another issue. I have to take a vote ‘yes’ for the people of Ward 1 on this,” said Morganelli.

Flaherty added that it was the Planning Board that led ZPD to take the amendment back up.

“It’s a health issue for people; it’s a quality-of-life issue. There will be subsequent public hearings,” he said before the motion was struck down. He said a yes vote would have moved the amendment into the public hearing process, both in front of the Planning Board and the City Council, after which it would have been sent back to ZPD and then to the Legislative and Ordinance Committee before another vote by the City Council.

The roll call vote on whether to move the moratorium forward failed 5-8, with Flaherty, Matthews-Kane, Mello, Morganelli and William Onyski voting to support, and Allie, Bean, Beltrandi, James Adams, Michael Burns, Ralph Figy, Cindy Harris and Richard Sullivan Jr. voting no.

After the meeting, Flaherty commented in an email on the vote by the City Council.

“This is all about the health of citizens and the quality of life for residents and other business owners,” he said. “People have been complaining for years about truck traffic. Every mayor going back to Dan Knapik has promised to address the problems and not allow more truck terminals. ZPD thought this was a perfect opportunity to put a pause on future projects that would bring in more trucks. It would have given the city the time to complete the Master Plan and analyze the air quality. It was not an outright ban forever. It was for a rather limited time.”