Hadley may lift 75,000-square-foot cap on retail stores

HADLEY — A 75,000-square-foot cap on the size of retail businesses, put in place 20 years ago in the midst of the continued buildout of the Route 9 commercial strip with so-called big box stores, is being targeted for elimination.

The Planning Board Tuesday voted 5-0 to recommend an article for the annual Town Meeting warrant in May that asks voters to rescind the compatible building size bylaw adopted in 2006.

That measure was approved, by a 139-45 vote, in the wake of discussions over a never-built Walmart Supercenter at Hampshire Mall, and came a little over two years after an extended debate over rezoning land for a Lowe’s home improvement store. That store opened in 2010 in a 139,648-square-foot building, or almost twice the size of what is now allowed.

Planning Board Chairman James Maksimoski explained that eliminating the cap on retail store size would allow a developer to build any size retail building in zoning districts where such projects can be permitted.

The board began discussions on amending the bylaw a year ago, understanding the financial challenges the town is facing, and seeing this as one way to encourage renewed economic growth in an already developed section of town.

Beginning in 1966 with the arrival of Zayre, Hadley’s first department store located in the Campus Shopping Plaza near the Amherst town line, this commercial development continued with the Mountain Farms and Hampshire malls constructed in the 1970s, with the most recent being the Hadley Corner/ Home Depot, opened in 2008.

But even though redevelopment of existing sites is allowed, and numerous national retailers are already part of the landscape, some are notably absent from Hadley, including Costco and B.J.’s Wholesale.

Maksimoski said the measure is not in response to any project the board is anticipating, even though there has been chatter about what businesses might be interested in coming to town.

“We have no proposal in front of us, all it is is rumors,” Maksimoski said.

Even should the cap be eliminated, the transfer of development rights bylaw would still apply to all commercial sites exceeding 75,000 square feet, as has been the case for office buildings, research centers and hotels. This bylaw requires payments to the Agricultural Preservation Restriction Program account to support permanent preservation of farmland.

Because much of Route 9 is already developed, virgin land that might be used would likely require a zoning change, which Maksimoski said would be another hurdle for a developer.

“The idea of overcoming two hurdles is probably something most stores wouldn’t be interested in doing,” Maksimoski said.

The warrant article also wouldn’t change any aspect of the village center overlay district, which runs along Route 9 from the Coolidge Bridge east to Mill Valley Road. In that district, the town requires developers to have commercial buildings take on an historic look, with all commercial buildings limited to 12,500-square-foot footprints, and new and significantly renovated buildings required to have pitched roofs, exteriors with horizontal siding, brick or textured stone appearances and double-hung windows.

The original cap on size was brought forward by a group known as Hadley Neighbors for Sensible Development and was the first successful attempt at building size limits, after earlier efforts were nixed by voters. The supporters at the time noted the cap would be a way to support locally-owned businesses that could use smaller buildings, and fit in with long-range planning efforts embedded in the unanimously approved Long Range Plan.

The bylaw is one of several that planners have worked on with assistance from staff at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission.

Other bylaw changes, all being endorsed by the Planning Board, include defining accessory structures as not to exceed 350 square feet, readopting an accessory dwellings unit bylaw with changes to bring it into compliance with the state attorney general recommendations, and rules regarding screening for large-scale solar projects.

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