AMHERST — A motel with more than a dozen rooms and 28 apartments on Route 9 at the Hadley town line could be demolished to make way for a larger apartment complex.
GSX Solutions of Boston, represented by attorney Thomas Reidy of Bacon and Wilson in Amherst, is considering bringing a four-story, 132-unit project to the Amherst Motel site at 408 Northampton Road, according to minutes from a Hadley Planning Board meeting in June.
This project would replace the building, which was constructed as a hotel in 1962. The building contains 14 motel rooms in addition to the furnished apartments, said David Burgess, Amherst’s principal assessor.
Amherst Planning Director Christine Brestrup said Monday that no plans have been filed with the town, but that the Planning Department was first approached in January about the possibility of constructing new apartments on the 3.83-acre site.
Any project would likely require a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals, since the current building, assessed at $1.19 million, is considered a nonconforming use on land that is in the town’s professional research park, Brestrup said. The town’s professional research park zoning prohibits residential uses.
Any development, though, would be consistent with nearby uses, including Hawkins Meadow Apartments at 370 Northampton Road, and Windfield Estates on Greenleaves Drive.
Because the developers intend to use 459 Russell St. in Hadley for 174 parking spaces, behind Domino’s Pizza, Hadley’s erosion and sediment control bylaw would likely be triggered.
“It’s probably large enough for the stormwater and sediment management special permit because of the space they’ll be disturbing,” said Hadley Planning Board Clerk William Dwyer.
The Hadley Conservation Commission would also have to review these parking plans, Dwyer said.
The only part of the Amherst Motel in Hadley is its swimming pool. Hadley’s zoning, unlike that in Amherst, prohibits multiple dwellings on one property.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
