A management company that owns a Route 9 shopping plaza near the Amherst town line is considering adding a large self-storage development to an undeveloped portion of the property.
At the Planning Board meeting Tuesday, Christian Brannelly, management director at Chestnut Realty Management in Boston, presented a conceptual drawing of an 82,500-square-foot project featuring an unspecified number of non-climate-controlled storage units.
The development would go on a 5-acre portion of 16 acres that are mostly wooded at the rear of the Campus Shopping Plaza at 438-454 Russell St. That site is anchored by Stop & Shop, TJ Maxx and Liquors 44.
“We have engaged a few different third parties,” Brannelly said. “We believe there are approximately 10 acres of upland development area behind the shopping center.”
Chestnut Realty, as Hadley Campus Plaza LLC, bought the property for $27.2 million in October 2022.
Currently, the only development to the rear of the plaza, which is also immediately west of the Big Y Supermarket on University Drive in Amherst, is a Sprint antenna, though Brannelly said the woods have previously been a homeless encampment, with some semi-permanent structures built over the years. The potential development would address trash and other debris left in the area.
Brannelly said the project would be developed outside the drop zone for the cell tower.
One complication, Brannelly said, will be access, which he explained may come from a so-called “paper road” that would be a continuation of Campus Plaza Road.
“We’re trying to figure out access to this area behind the shopping center,” Brannelly said.
Because of the size of the development, it would likely require a special permit and possible use of the farmland preservation bylaw, a means of allowing developers to do more intense developments by providing money to permanently preserve agricultural land elsewhere in town.
Planners appeared comfortable with the development, so long as it meets town zoning.
“It’s a permitted use in a permitted zone,” Planning Board Chairman James Maksimoski said. “Whether or not it’s a good idea, we don’t comment on that, because that’s a risk the developer is taking.”
Planning Board member Joseph Zgrodnik said the developer will have to make sure there is sufficient parking, two square feet for every square foot of building. He cautioned that a future change in use could cause vehicles to spill onto town roads.
Maksimoski said wetlands is likely to be the biggest concern.
Brannelly said he will be speaking to the town’s conservation agent and Conservation Commission to determine the amount of upland before returning to the Planning Board.
Other business
In other business, planners advised attorney Tom Reidy of Bacon Wilson PC in Amherst that they would likely not support a zoning change to reduce the parking requirements for the display space for vehicles at Steve Lewis Subaru, 315 Russell St.
Reidy said he raised the possibility of the zoning change in advance of a redevelopment plan for the site, including a more modern building, following the dealership’s purchase by Balise Motor Sales last winter. Reidy said the site plans for redevelopment would be brought forward in February.
Planning Board Clerk William Dwyer said a better option than bringing a zoning change to Town Meeting may be to tweak zoning rules to accommodate display of vehicles at Class 1 dealerships.
Maksimoski said he would be more comfortable with bending or flexing rules for the town’s two Class 1 dealerships.
Another item on the board’s agenda involved a status conference on landscaping business In the Green Gardens, 243 Russell St., in advance of a continuation of a site plan review hearing next month. Owner Steve Vaiano informed the board he has repaired a perimeter fence, cleaned up the yard and is getting quote from a company to complete survey work.
Because Vaiano met the terms of an agreement with the board, Dwyer said the building commissioner will not be asked to issue a cease-and-desist order to the business.
