DEERFIELD — Pioneer Valley Performance, a baseball and softball training facility, plans to lease a portion of the warehouse at 6 Railroad Yard Road.
The Deerfield Zoning Board of Appeals granted the property owner and Railyard, LLC owner Phil Nash a special permit for the use of a private club in the approximately 9,000-square-foot warehouse at 6 Railroad Yard Road on Thursday, the next step to move in Pioneer Valley Performance.
The special permit applies to the 6,000-square-foot section of the warehouse for the training facility and the connected 3,000 square feet Nash plans to rent to a tenant with a golf simulator.
According to Nash, the entire, nearly six-acre property started as a grain plant in 1952. The property holds three rail spurs beside an active railyard, contractor bays, a mixed use warehouse and an additional 45,000 square feet of “flex space,” as Deerfield Railyard’s website describes it. Nash previously used the 6,000 square feet of warehouse space reserved for Pioneer Valley Performance as pickleball courts until he learned of a required special permit for the use.
“It was a hit, I’ll admit,” Nash said. With pickleball season no longer in full swing and Pioneer Valley Performance owner Johnny Devine now interested in the space, Nash switched gears from rackets to bats.
In an interview after the meeting, Devine said batting cages, pitching lanes, team training zones, a meeting space, gym, and small shop will fill the warehouse space over a turf floor. Devine plans to hire training instructors, likely college athletes and retired baseball and softball players to train visitors in both group and one-on-one sessions. The exact size of his staff will depend on occupancy limits for the space, said Devine.
Devine, of Leverett, described himself as a “self-proclaimed lifelong student of the game,” playing and teaching since he first picked up the bat. He said his current job as a client advisor at Lia Auto Group “pays the bills, so I can do baseball.”
When Devine moved from Virginia to Leverett in 2023, Devine said he asked local residents, “Where’s the baseball?” He said they replied with, “You’re the baseball.”
About two years ago, he decided to listen to their answer and chase his dream career. He hopes to open his training facility for baseball and softball players in the Pioneer Valley this fall.
“I’m betting on myself,” Devine said.
Before Pioneer Valley Performance can open its doors to players, Nash must earn a Certificate of Occupancy for the space and resolve concerns raised by Fire Chief Daren Melnik and Police Chief John Paciorek Jr.
In a comment on the proposal to the ZBA, Melnik mentioned the potential requirement of a sprinkler system in the warehouse space. During the meeting, building inspector Bob Walden clarified that the occupancy of the space will largely determine whether or not Nash must install a sprinkler system.
Nash said he applied for a grant from MassDevelopment to help fund fixing “infrastructure problems,” like installing the sprinkler system and upgrading the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.
The ZBA told Nash that parking space and the gravel nature of the building’s parking lot without clear markings concerned Paciorek. In response, Nash noted that Paciorek raised these points in regards to pickleball courts. With training sessions instead of pickleball matches, Nash said he believes the parking space for 10 vehicles is sufficient. He added that he does not plan to pave the parking lot.
To describe the occupancy Nash expects in the training facility, he compared the numbers to those of a hair salon. “You have a hundred customers, but not all of them show up in one day,” Nash told the ZBA.
Nash plans to continue working with Melnik, Paciorek and Walden to address these concerns and move forward.
“There’s a lot of other thresholds to cross,” ZBA Chair David Potter said.
“It’s a fabulous addition to the town,” ZBA member Tia Christiansen commented. She added that the involvement of Melnik and Paciorek “abates all of [her] concerns.”
The ZBA added a condition prohibiting the sale of alcoholic beverages on the property to the special permit, considering that the categorization of a private club includes night clubs.
As a recreational club under the umbrella of a “private club” with businesses as its members, Potter said, “It’s [Nash’s] club to determine what happens there.”
After the ZBA voted to approve the special permit, Nash and Devine high-fived. “Let’s play ball,” Devine told Nash.
