SOUTH HADLEY — The town administrator will conduct a preliminary public hearing on Tuesday to share information and solicit public input on a proposal to create a “Smart Growth Zoning Overlay District” at the former Big Y Supermarket plaza and surrounding areas. The hearing will be held at 6 p.m. at the Selectboard Meeting Room in Town Hall.
The Big Y Supermarket was demolished earlier this year. The town is hoping to revitalize the area, centered at the intersection of Newton and Lyman streets. Land use in that area is regulated by separate business and residential zoning. A smart growth overlay district is intended to encourage dense mixed-use or residential development, with a significant percentage of affordable housing units.
The South Hadley Plaza was purchased at auction last May for some $2.4 million by Rocco Falcone, president of Rocky’s Ace Hardware; Peter Picknelly of Peter Pan Bus Lines in Springfield; and the Yee Family, who run restaurants in South Hadley, Amherst, Hadley, Springfield and Chicopee.
Town Planner Richard Harris said that the July 11 hearing is just the first step in a long process. Depending on how the hearing goes, the town could submit an application to the state. If it received a preliminary letter of approval, there would then be a formal hearing by the planning board on zoning bylaw amendments that would create the overlay district. All of that would then go to Town Meeting for approval.
“We’re far from actual change in the zoning bylaw yet,” Harris said.
Town Administrator Mike Sullivan said there are several reasons for considering a smart growth district, such as growing the tax base, providing affordable housing to working families and bolstering the town’s economy. Either 20 or 25 percent of the housing built in the district would have to be affordable.
“This is a plaza that has kind of languished for an extended period of time now,” Sullivan told the Gazette, encouraging people to come to Tuesday’s hearing with an open mind. “Retail has changed and we have to adapt and try and facilitate the growing markets that are being exposed in South Hadley.”
Harris said the goal is to fulfil what’s called for in the South Hadley Master Plan. “We’re trying to set the stage of what we want to see happen,” he said.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.