HADLEY — Construction of a new dentist office and associated parking lot at the site of an historic 1830 farmhouse at 101 East St. can move forward.
The Planning Board Tuesday voted unanimously in support of two special permits, one for site plan approval and the other for business use in an aquifer, so the 4,554-square-foot building can go up for Hampshire Meadow Family and Pediatric Dentistry.
The practice will be moving from its current 207 Russell St. location, in a small commercial plaza a short distance to the east.
One of the main concerns for Planning Board members at the initial hearing last month was having parking too close to East Street. The parking lot has since been moved from 19 feet back from the road to 31 feet back, which Chairman James Maksimsoski said complied with a request to get closer to a 50-foot setback. “And it looks much nicer,” Maksimoski said.
The building will go up on the site of the to-be demolished farmhouse, which has been a rental property in recent years. The office will be across from a bankESB branch at 100 East St. and will look similar to that building, with white clapboard siding and a peaked roof, as required in the historic overlay district, and a cupola.
Signs for the dentist office, with a graphic depicting a tooth set in a field, will be reviewed at a later date.
Planning Board member Mark Dunn said he appreciates that requests made by the Planning Board were followed.
“I think they’ve been pretty sensitive to the Hadley aesthetic … and I appreciate that,” Dunn said.
To meet the setbacks, six parking spaces were removed. The 12,000 square feet of parking is still more than twice as much parking as the building needs, based on the town’s bylaws.
In other business, the Planning Board began a definitive subdivision review to create two buildable lots in a gravel pit off Breckenridge Road, near Zatyrka Park. A portion of the property has been proposed for a standalone battery storage project. That hearing will continue on Nov. 19.
The board also voted to support an amended accessory dwelling units bylaw that will come before fall Town Meeting Nov. 14. That bylaw is to get the town into compliance with the new state regulations allowing so-called “ADUs” by right.
