Stop & Shop Expansion Testimony Continues Before Planning Board

Sound expert testified before the board in favor of renovation

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 …

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Zoning Board of Adjustment Approves Urban Outfitters' Application

Applicant primarily seeks relief to allow for non-storage uses in building's basement.

The Westfield Zoning Board of Adjustment unanimously approved the application submitted by international retailer Urban Outfitters at a special meeting held Wednesday evening.  A resolution will be adopted at the Board of Adjustment's April 9th meeting. Sherry Cronin, executive director of the Downtown Westfield Corporation, said the approval is "a major coup" for Westfield.  The applicant, Poly C LLC and Serf Realty LLC, is seeking variance relief for its use of the property at 154 East Broad Street. The most significant request for relief deals with allowing the tenant to use the basement for certain non-storage uses. Section 12.04C of the Land Use Ordinance allows storage use in a non-residential basement. Urban Outfitters seeks …

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For Ferraro's, The Second Time's The Charm

Planning Board approves revised plans, brings landmark restaurant one step closer to return

A friend hugged Ferraro’s executive chief Giuseppe DiPietro in the lobby outside council chambers at town hall late last night, offering a warm embrace after what had been another long evening during what has been a stressful summer. “Good days are ahead,” he told him. More than three hours after presenting a revised proposal to the Planning Board, and more than three months after watching its storied downtown restaurant be destroyed in a fire, good days and lively nights are once again on the horizon for the Ferraro family. The Planning Board unanimously approved Palmiro Ferraro, Inc.’s application for reconstruction of a three-story building on its downtown property Thursday night. The three-hour meeting was less contentious – though at …

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Planning Board Moves Master Plan Forward

WeCare will be involved as the document moves towards final Town Council approval.

The Planning Board also voted to move forward a component of the new town master plan. A document called the “Town Land Use Element” is a work in progress that the Planning Board, in conjunction with Public Works Department staff and concerned residents, will scrutinize as the master plan itself continues its methodical progress toward becoming official. The master plan is the official document setting land use policy within the community. Under state law, municipalities must re-examine a master plan every six years. The land use element is scheduled to be considered by the Town Council's code review committee later this month and will likely be passed by the council in either September or October. The new document is being codified at the…