SOUTH DEERFIELD — The Conservation Commission passed a motion to have design plans for a proposed Cumberland Farms at 31 Elm St. looked at by a peer reviewer.
The commission’s decision to have someone outside of town examine the gas station’s design was made during a public hearing Oct. 27, at least in part because of the project’s scale.
Phillip Henry, a representative from Civil Design Group, the project’s civil engineering firm, presented preliminary designs during a formal presentation to the commission. The hearing was required because a part of the land falls under state conservation law.
If the design is approved by town officials and receives state permits, the existing Cumberland Farms, at 2 Sugarloaf St. in the center of town, will shut down and a new, larger location will open on the corner of Elm Street and Routes 5 and 10, across from Yankee Candle.
Henry said of the roughly half-acre of land the proposed gas station would cover, assessed at $250,000, only about 75 percent would be disturbed.
Included in the proposal is a request to demolish an existing house on the property in order to build a new, 3,700-square-foot building, with 27 parking spaces out front and along the sides. The plans call for four fuel pumps and outlines ways to mitigate storm water runoff and wetland disturbance.
It also outlines two entrances, a right-in, right-out curb cut on Routes 5 and 10, and another on Elm Street. Because 5 and 10 is state owned, curb cuts need state-approved permits.
“I think this is a good project for the Town of Deerfield,” said Conservation Commission Chairman Stephen Barrett, noting that his personal opinion doesn’t reflect the commission’s official stance for or against the project.
“I’d like to see it happen, but it has to happen the right way,” he added.
Following a recommendation by the chairman, the three members of the commission overseeing the hearing unanimously voted to send the proposal for third-party peer review, specifically to investigate the project’s storm water management and how it will affect the property’s wetlands.
The project will come before the commission again once the peer review has been completed.
You can reach Andy Castillo
at: acastillo@recorder.com
or 413-772-0261, ext. 263
On Twitter: @AndyCCastillo