Site plan for new Head Start building on Falcon Drive goes to Planning Board
WESTFIELD — A site plan approval and stormwater permit went to the Planning Board on April 15 for a new Head Start child care facility, a program of the Community Action Pioneer Valley, on 6.45 acres of undeveloped wooded land at Falcon Drive and Southampton Roads zoned Business B and Water Resource.
The hearing was continued until May 6. No special permit is needed for the byright use.
Robert Levesque of R. Levesque Associates presented the site plan for the corner property. He said the building will be a fairly straightforward one-story, 15,800-square-foot rectangular structure to house the child care facility with an outdoor playscape area.
The facility is proposing a 24-foot-wide entrance on Falcon Drive, as requested by the applicant who wants to retain as many as possible of the trees around the property for minimum sight and sound from the traffic on Southampton Road.
Levesque said they reduced the initial request of 88 parking spaces to 65 to accommodate the stormwater plan, with banked parking to the north that won't be built unless needed. There will be two stormwater basins, one on the north side and one on the south, that Levesque said met all stormwater management and MassDEP standards, and the city engineer has signed off. Levesque said the site plan has also been vetted through Head Start and its planner.
Levesque said since the property is partially in the Water Resource District, the site plan is subject to a 35-day comment period which ends on May 5, the day before the continued Planning Board hearing.
Cheryl Crow asked if the address will be on Falcon Drive where the entrance is, which Levesque said seems logical. She said she was glad the number of parking spaces in the plan was reduced.
City Planner Jay Vinskey said the 65 spaces shown in the plan meet the minimum for zoning without the banked spaces.
Crowe also asked if the Head Start sign is going to be on Falcon Drive or Southampton Road, and Levesque said the sign will be on Falcon Drive, and would be submitted separately for approval.
Levesque said the 24-foot-wide entrance is ample for all emergency vehicles and fire apparatus to get in and to move around the parking lot, with room for gravel access if needed. He said the building will be a single story.
Vinskey said the Fire Department has approved the plan.
Bernard Puza asked if the building would be visible from Southampton Road.
'They don't want to, they want to save as many trees as they can,' Levesque said. He said a designer is working now on very detailed plans for the playscape area which will be fenced in at the rear of the building.
Although no objections to the plan were raised by the board, the hearing is continued to May 6 after the comment period closes.
Head Start is currently located on city-owned property at 390 Southampton Road, with a lease expiring in 2026.
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