HADLEY — After ruffling the feathers of officials in Hadley earlier this year, Pride stores remains on track to build a gasoline station at the corner of Bay Road and Russell Street.
Pride Stores CEO Robert Bolduc presented preliminary designs to the town’s Planning Board Tuesday, and clerk William E. Dwyer Jr. said the only hiccup had to do with drainage.
He said board members asked Bolduc at the meeting to adjust the depth of the site’s retention pond, because an 8-foot-deep pond would collect too much standing water.
“We asked them to come up with an alternative method to handle drainage,” Dwyer said.
Bolduc’s previous run-ins with town officials included the clear-cutting of land against the Conservation Commission’s wishes and failing to help fire officials at the scene of a vehicle fire.
The board did not approve the site plan Tuesday because engineers hired by the town have not yet ruled that the plans are in keeping with local bylaws.
Dwyer said the board will revisit the project during its May 17 meeting. In the meantime, he said Bolduc agreed to adjust the drainage designs and also incorporate a cupola into the plan at the request of Planning Board member John Mieczkowski.
“We do like it to be a nice-looking building,” Dwyer said. “It’s one of the first things people will see as they come into town, so we want it to look like it belongs there.”
Dwyer said Bolduc must also appear before the Historical Commission and the Conservation Commission.
Dwyer said consideration about the commercial venture on the property is not part of the decision on the site plan.
“We don’t have the discretion to say no we don’t need another gas station,” Dwyer said.
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