Stop & Shop Expansion Testimony Continues Before Planning Board

On Wednesday, May 8, the Westfield Planning Board held the third public meeting this year addressing Stop & Shop’s application to expand their Westfield supermarket and parking area.

Following a ruling by the Westfield Zoning Board of Adjustments in July 2010 that the supermarket would have to seek a D variance, Stop & Shop revised and resubmitted their expansion application last January and is seeking variance relief from several sections of the town’s Land Use Ordinance.

As part of the revised plan, Stop & Shop would raze two office buildings it previously purchased at 203 and 195 Elm Street to make way for a larger parking lot. The new lot would include 140 spaces, almost 40 more than in the existing lot.

Additionally, the building would be redesigned to allow for two sealed elevator loading docks instead of the supermarket’s current open-air docks. On the south side of the building, an addition would include a produce display and sales area, and the front entry way to the building would also be redesigned.

The proposed expansion would bring the existing 24,860-square-foot sales floor to around 41,000 square feet, and renovations would close the current location for five months.

Stop & Shop will no longer seek variances to use the store’s basement for food-handling purposes, which allows the supermarket to apply for C variances before the planning board.

Stephen Szulecki, an environmental and occupational noise consultant and vice president of The Noise Consultancy, LLC, in Flemington, NJ, prepared a noise report that was entered into evidence during Wednesday’s meeting and testified as Stop & Shop’s sound expert. His firm was contracted to analyze the expansion relative to state and local noise codes, advise on design modifications, and recommend necessary mitigations to ensure compliance.

Szulecki testified that he reviewed engineering drawings, architectural drawings, a traffic and parking statement, the Federal Highway Administration's Traffic Noise Model Technical Manual, and manufacturer data for exhaust fans and other noise-producing appliances. He additionally consulted with representatives from manufacturers, conducted sound level measurements at existing Stop & Shop supermarkets relating to vendor truck deliveries and noise-producing appliances, and visited the Westfield Stop & Shop to observe the existing site and surroundings.

Szulecki said he considered state and local laws and regulations to determine appropriate noise levels. In order to determine regulation compliance, he identified a number of potential on-site noise sources, including exhaust hoods, air-conditioning systems, and unloading vendor trucks, and more than 20 receptor locations.

Szulecki described receptor locations as areas that residents might recreate within their property lines where sound would be propagated–based on the laws of physics–from the noise source.

He said the goal is that, during the daytime, residents at these receptor locations are “not so affected that they can’t have a normal conversation without having to raise their voice or move closer to one another.” And at nighttime, residents should be able to have their windows partially open without their sleep being disturbed by outside noise. Thus, exterior sound levels may not equal or exceed 65 DPA during the daytime and 50 DPA at night.

By inputting this data into acoustical models that conform to Standard 9613.2 from the International Organization for Standardization–the world’s largest developer of voluntary International Standards– Szulecki was able to calculate the acoustic impact on each receptor location.

Based on all these considerations, including sound mitigation features like a sound fence added to the current retaining wall to the south of the property, Szulecki confirmed the expansion would be in complete compliance with noise regulations.

“We’ve gone through a lot of effort and thought to produce a set of criteria and design so that we’re meeting the noise standards and ensuring to residents that we’re doing that,” he said.

After the board opened the floor to public comment, Ron Gasiorowski, who represents Westfield resident James Hughes–an objector to the proposed expansion–cross-examined Szulecki at length.

Gasiorowski, of Gasiorowski & Holobinko, in Red Bank, NJ, called into question the credibility of Szulecki’s data and asked if Szulecki could provide a singular record containing the data he input into the acoustical models. Howard Geneslaw, the attorney representing Stop & Shop, said it was not Szulecki’s duty to provide this documentation, and that Gasiorowki is welcome to provide his own data analysis.

Questions about existing sound conditions as they relate to current truck delivery schedules were denied by the board because they did not relate directly to Szulecki’s testimony. Gasiorowski was instructed to confine his questions to the scope of direct examination.

The board concluded the meeting at 10:45 p.m. during Gasiorowski’s cross-examination. The hearing is scheduled to continue on Wednesday, June 5, with more cross-examination and expert testimony.