On September 28th, the Planning Board of Easthampton, Mass, rejected retailer Stop & Shop’s plan to build a new grocery store in the city. The topic has been an outgoing item for the city and its residents for the past ten months since the application was submitted. It however has been weighing on residents’ minds for years when the site in question was sold to Stop & Shop.
Easthampton is my home town. I hold it close to my heart. As an urban planning graduate student, I also am quite interested in the Master Plan which Easthampton approved in 2008. The plan reflects the fact that the city is growing but that the growth must be done through smart growth functions. Developed with assistance from the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, the Master Plan incorporates elements to ensure the city is a community and not a strip development.
This brings us back to the topic of Stop & Shop. The residents of Easthampton have always shunned big box developments. While an effort to formalize the consent failed, the city has never approved a large retail development within its borders. A single grocery store, Big E’s, is in town – a mainstay for decades though significantly smaller than any grocery store of today. There are a few small specialty grocers in town, but Big E’s has been the only true grocery store. Big Y, based in Springfield, attempted to build a store in town back in the 1980s, however, that initiative failed and the company was forced to build in Southampton on the Easthampton border.
Discussions regarding big box developers in town have come up a number of times. Previously they were seen as a potential opportunity for economic invigoration during the town’s recessive years in the 1980s and early 1990s. Those days have since been replaced by the economic “boom” that Easthampton saw in the 1990s and 2000s, starting with the establishment of a lively artist community. People now regularly walk and shop throughout town, something we certainly did not see in the 1980s.
The latest Master Plan builds off that ideal. It focuses on strengthening the business core of the city, establishing a highway business district along Northampton St – all with a walkable community in mind.
Stop & Shop filed for development under “planned business development”. Under this type, a development must place its parking at the side or rear of the building. A number of studies have been done to show the negative impact of front-located parking lots. Easthampton has deemed this type of parking lot out of favor. Stop & Shop’s submitted development plan clearly placed its parking lot in front of the structure (though behind two minor streetside-located buildings).
It was this blatant disregard for Easthampton’s approved parking guidelines that caused Stop & Shop’s plan to be rejected. The Planning Board was not rejecting the development on the basis it was big box or that the town does not need business development. It was rejected on the terms that the public good must prevail. The city had created specific design guidelines that the public desired. Those businesses that desire to work and grow in the town must respect the desire of the public.
Unlike board chairman, Jason Duda, I too would have rejected the plan. The citizens of the town shot down a no-big-box ordinance. The Planning Board must therefore approve big box development. Those developments must adhere to the public’s design guidelines. If Stop & Shop revises their plans in accordance to town regulation, I’m all for supporting this business. The town is growing and does need additional food sources. The town however must ensure that those food sources are established with the public good and concern in mind.
Jason Duda clearly had some self interest weighing on his shoulders when he stated he supported the development. For him, the board should approve the plan (with conditions). This just leaves the door open to interpretation and additional issues with future developments. By requiring the builder to adhere to the guidelines BEFORE approval, the Board has solidified and qualified those standards. Jason Duda needs to be reminded of his duties as a board member – those duties state he is serving the public, not Stop & Shop.
Thank you Ann M. Parizo, Harry E. Schumann and Chester H. Seklecki Jr for supporting Easthampton’s desire to be a true community, in spirit and physical development.
Tags: big box development, easthampton, master plan, parking location, planning board, stop & shop, stop and shop
