DEERFIELD — A new grassroots group has sent a letter to state Attorney General Maura Healey to alert her office to what the group’s members believe is an effort to circumvent Deerfield’s zoning bylaws to build a Dollar General in town.
Tim Hilchey and Tolly Stark, who are heading a group calling itself Deerfield for Responsible Development, said their members are concerned about the clear-cutting of trees at the proposed store’s Route 5 site and the potential for dangerous traffic conditions created by the store. The letter, postmarked Aug. 16, lists the group’s understanding of the facts and refers to a communication with the District 2 Office of the state Department of Transportation.
According to the letter, an entity identifying itself as South Deerfield DG Series LLC delivered a site plan review application on April 23 for “a large retail box store” and the application was stamped. Five days later, mature trees were clear-cut on roughly a half-acre of state-owned land along Route 5 in Deerfield. In nine drawings in the developer’s site development plans, no trees are in evidence on the state-owned land on either side of a proposed store driveway on Route 5.
Hilchey said the letter’s intent is to raise “the profile of the issues.” He said his group has received certified responses from Healey’s office as well as the offices of state Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack and state Rep. Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington. The letter states members of the grassroots group would appreciate an opportunity to speak with Healey about their concerns.
The land at the corner of Mill Village Road and Routes 5 and 10 is owned by Greg Gardner, who also owns nearby Greg’s Autobody Shop. According to the letter, the transportation department told the group that “MassDOT did not issue a permit to this property owner for tree removal along the state roadway.”
Patrick Marvin, of the DOT’s communications office, confirmed this.
Brooke Hastings, a business manager working for Gardner, said Gardner wants to make clear he is the current owner of the land and is not involved with the buyer or its planned use of the property.
“Throughout this entire process, there has been a misconception that he is somehow involved in the buyer’s planned use and developments to the land, which is not the case,” Hastings said in an email.
Lisciotti Development’s South Deerfield DG, LLC, has been contracted by Dollar General to develop the land.
The letter from Deerfield for Responsible Development states the trees were removed to deny town officials the chance to enforce Deerfield’s zoning bylaws, which require a developer to minimize the number of removed trees that are 6 inches in circumference or larger.
“The timing of these events suggests there may be a material link between the property owner’s ‘unpermitted tree removal activities’ on state-owned land, the proposed sale of private land to the developer, and the developer’s applications for Special Permits related to proposed development of the site,” the letter states, adding that residents have complained about the clear-cutting and requested the land be restored by planting mature trees.
“As a result of these complaints, we have been informed by the Selectboard that MassDOT’s Boston office has taken control of the evaluation of ‘future options and action that can be taken to address the unpermitted tree removal activities.’”
The letter also states residents are concerned about the safety of children if the store is developed at the intersection of Route 5, Mill Village Road and North Main Street.
“Numerous accidents involving serious personal injuries and fatality” have happened there in the past five years, according to Deerfield for Responsible Development.
Also, the developer has told the Deerfield Planning Board he is pursuing a permit from MassDOT to link the site to Route 5 by installing a driveway through the state-owned land where the clear-cutting occurred. The letter states this is unnecessary because the development site would be easily accessed from Mill Village Road.
“The timing of events suggests that a second goal of these ‘unpermitted tree removal activities’ may have been to clear the way for this driveway permit request,” the letter reads.
Hilchey said he is not opposed to Dollar General but believes a location for such a store would be better suited at an intersection with a traffic light.
John Waite, Deerfield Planning Board chairman, said the Dollar General project will be further discussed at a meeting on Sept. 12. He also said Deerfield has hired Tighe & Bond to conduct a peer review of the developer’s plans and he expects to present the findings at the meeting.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.