HADLEY — Fearing that the site plan special permit for a new senior center and town library may not win approval from the Planning Board, members of the Select Board are mandating that the proposed senior center building be scaled back.
The Select Board voted 3-2 Wednesday in favor of a motion from board member David Fill II directing the Senior Center Building Committee and its architect to reduce the size of the proposed building from 12,050 square feet to 10,350 square feet.
By removing 1,700 square feet from the senior center project, the 2.6-acre site will have sufficient parking and open space to support both projects. Current site plans show that the site is 5,000 square feet short of meeting the town bylaw requiring that the amount of parking be double the size of the buildings.
Fill proposed the idea because it appears that the Planning Board, after several hearings reviewing the plans, might not achieve the super majority required. At least four of the five members must vote in favor for the plans to be approved.
If the site plans are denied, the only course of action for the decision to be overturned would be for the Select Board to file a lawsuit in Hampshire Superior Court against the Planning Board, which would be expensive and time consuming.
“We need to get it built, and get it done, and stop wasting money, that’s what it amounts to,” Fill said of his reasoning for making the motion.
Fill was joined by Chairwoman Joyce Chunglo and member John Waskiewicz in recommending a smaller senior center building. Molly Keegan and Christian Stanley voted against the motion.
It is unknown how long it will take to redesign the senior center project and at what cost.
“Design reduction will take a while,” Nevinsmith said.
“I think people are hopeful it can happen fairly quickly,” Keegan said. But she noted that more money will have to go into a redesign, as well as filing another dual site plan with the Planning Board.
Chunglo said the town would still get a decent senior center and be able to meet the needs of the community.
Waskiewicz said the board is in a bind. “We need to compromise, but we’re really at a stalemate here,” Waskiewicz said.
The board’s recommendation came despite the urging of Jane Nevinsmith, chairwoman of the Senior Center Building Committee, to keep the current plans and continue to attempt to address the concerns.
Stanley, who is the liaison to the building committee, said Thursday that he worries that even with a smaller building, there is no guarantee of getting approval for the plans, and that the vote undercuts efforts to resolve the issues before the Planning Board.
“We were working on a solution, but the majority of the Select Board wants to reduce the building so there is more perceived green space and parking,” Stanley said.
Stanley added that the Select Board shouldn’t fear litigation if the plans are turned down.
To address the insufficient parking, attorneys representing the Senior Center Building Committee proposed using the Dover Amendment, a state law that allows buildings for education and religious uses to be exempt from certain zoning regulations.
Keegan noted that the town spent $2,500 for a legal opinion that the Dover Amendment could be used for a library.
But Fill said there was a much better chance of addressing the concerns of the Planning Board if the plans aren’t seeking any exceptions.
“It has no guarantee of succeeding, but the chance is much better than what we’re doing now,” Fill said.
Keegan said she is not sure this will achieve a positive result. “Unfortunately I don’t have confidence in deal-making,” Keegan said.
With the senior center project already delayed, there is some concern that the $8 million, 11,800 square foot library, to be built on the Hooker School Building when it is demolished, may also be delayed. The current senior center is housed in the Hooker School.
The new library is required to break ground by January 2020 or the town may have to forfeit a $3.9 million provisional grant awarded by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners in 2017.
But Library Trustees Chairwoman Jo-Ann Konieczny said she is taking a wait-and-see approach, observing that the Select Board’s vote has no immediate impact on the library building project.
Earlier on in the process, the Senior Center Building Committee looked at reducing the price tag for its building by reducing its size to 9,500 square feet. This would have necessitated eliminating an arts and crafts room, conference room, space for exercise equipment and a game room. But last fall voters agreed to add $1.8 million to the original $5.3 million appropriation to ensure that the project wouldn’t shrink in size.
At the time, voters agreed that the building must meet the needs of the 1,800 seniors or would become obsolete, in much way that Hadley Elementary School and Hadley Public Safety Complex both became squeezed for space shortly after opening.
Keegan said many residents have been in touch about the projects.
“The general feedback I get is frustration that both projects are not moving forward more quickly,” Keegan said.
Stanley said time will tell if the board made the right decision on asking for a smaller plan.
“Hopefully this can be a positive step forward,” Stanley said.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
