HADLEY — The Planning Board on Tuesday approved plans for a 96-room hotel in a vacant lot next to Aldi and Home Depot off Russell Street.
By a vote of 4-0, with member John Mieczkowski absent, the board OK’d the developer’s site plan and stormwater management and erosion control permit.
The land has an extra level of protection because it lies in an aquafer protection district, and the board also approved the necessary permit for that.
The plans for the Homewood Suites by Hilton call for a three-story, 81,400-square-foot structure that will include a fitness center and a pool.
Shardool S. Parmar, the listed manager of the firm behind the project — Russell Street Hospitality LLC — is also the president of the Pioneer Valley Hotel Group Inc.
That firm operates the Hampton Inn and Comfort Inn in Hadley, and the Holiday Inn Express in Ludlow and La Quinta Inn and Suites in Springfield.
Parmar said after the meeting he hopes to start construction this year, but didn’t have a more specific goal for a start date. He said construction would likely take 18 months.
Asked if he believes Hadley could sustain another hotel in town, he said, “we believe so, yes.”
In December, he said the hotel would be geared toward professors and other professionals in town working on projects or other business.
He said guests at similar Hilton facilities typically stay for a week on average.
At the December Planning Board meeting, members said developers would need to seek clarity from Building Commissioner Timothy Neyhart on whether stovetops in rooms would constitute dwellings.
In a letter to the board read Tuesday, Neyhart gave his stamp of approval, saying the rooms constituted hotel rooms, not dwellings.
Developers also expanded a strip of green space behind the building to allow emergency vehicle access behind the building.
The developers also told the Planning Board that questions the town’s Conservation Commission had about the plans had been cleared up.
Jack Suntrup can be reached at jsuntrup@gazettenet.com.