Westfield Planning Board seeks resolution of Roots fencing issue

Dec. 9, 2020 | Dennis Hackett
dennis@thereminder.com

WESTFIELD – At the Dec. 1 Westfield Planning Board meeting, the board conducted three compliance reviews and hosted a lengthy discussion about zoning enforcement.

For the first compliance review, Planning Board Vice Chair Cheryl Crowe said that she visited the Roots Athletic Center multiple times to see if they had installed fencing at the board’s request.

“I went down twice on Friday, Oct. 30; I went down during the day to see if they put the fencing up to shield the bleeding of the lighting, I didn’t see any fencing. I went during the evening and the lights were on and there was still some bleeding into the road. I went again on Nov. 13 and there were no lights on whatsoever,” she said.

Crowe added that she wanted something to be done about the fencing.

“Back on Feb. 4, we discussed fencing, and we suggested 15-foot fencing. If they were going to use the dirt parking, they were supposed to tar it and they were supposed to have a substantial enough fence there. Nothing has been done there and something needs to be done,” she said.

Planning Board Chair William Carellas agreed and said the board should invite Roots Athletic Center owner Frank DeMarinis for a discussion at its next meeting.

“Why don’t we call the applicant in, he can still put the fence in, the ground is definitely soft enough for that. We have another meeting in 14 days so I think we should give him that time to put a fence in to comply with the permit, and if not we should call him in and discuss revoking his special permit,” he said.

Carellas added that it is part of Roots’ permit to install a 4-foot fence and pave the current dirt parking lot at the facility.

"I think what we should do is call him in and say we have two issues in front of us. We have the parking lot, and you have two choices, finish it and comply or return it to its natural state. The second part is the fence, we need to call him in and ask what his intentions are, so now we are starting to solve the frustration,” he said.

Ultimately, the board agreed to invite DeMarinis to discuss the lighting and paving at its Dec. 15 meeting.

Contacted by Reminder Publishing after the meeting, a representative of Roots Athletic Center said they were waiting on an official fence height from the Planning Board.

“The Planning Board put a couple of numbers back and forth about the fence height but we never heard back from them. I would anticipate our owner will be on the call for the next meeting,” he said.

The board also agreed to send a letter to Polish National Credit Union over an animated electronic sign for not being in compliance with their sign special permit.

They also agreed to bring in representatives from the Big Y gas station on East Main Street to discuss their plan about people not abiding by their traffic signs at the Dec. 15 meeting.

As a result of the compliance reviews, the board sparked a larger discussion about zoning enforcement.

Planning Board member Jane Magarian said one of the problems is some businesses agree to the conditions for a special permit but then do not follow through.

“We have to do something about businesses that come before us, agree to all of our conditions and then go do what they want. I think that’s a problem we have to look at and solve somehow,” she said.

Magarian added that issues for previous permits have to be addressed before considering more permits with a business.

“I don’t know if there is something we can change in the bylaws but we should be able to hold an applicant responsible for conditions for a previous project before hearing another special permit and approving anything else,” she said.

Other than going to the Building Department, City Planner Jay Vinskey said the only other option would be to revoke a special permit.

“You reserve the ability to revoke the permit altogether. Without a permit, the building inspector may be able to pull their occupancy permit, I’m not sure of the logistics of it, but it would go back to the Building Department,” he said.

Planning Board member Philip McEwan said that there is not a way for the Planning Board to enforce zoning.

“What we do is dictated by our zoning ordinance and the state law that enables us to have our zoning ordinance. Unless you can find something in one of those documents that says we can enforce zoning, we can’t go out and do it. I don’t think we have the authority to go out and enforce zoning,” he said.

One of the problems McEwan brought up is Westfield does not have a full-time zoning enforcement officer.

“It doesn’t seem that the City Council wants to dedicate that kind of funding for a zoning enforcement officer. It’s always been a secondary job for the building inspector or a police officer but there’s nobody doing it full time. I have my doubts the people doing it have the knowledge necessary, it’s just not a priority with the city,” he said.

The board decided to meet with other city officials at a future meeting to hammer out the details for zoning enforcement.

The Westfield Planning Board next meets on Dec. 15.

Editor’s note:?Reminder Publishing’s Westfield office is located at the Roots Athletic Center at 181 Root Rd.

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