GREENFIELD — The Conservation Commission will continue deliberations on a three-story hotel being proposed for the vacant lot at 125 Mohawk Trail on Tuesday, Aug. 25.
Commission members this week reviewed the existing conditions of the 3.29-acre lot, which was formerly home to the Rodeway Inn. Last month, they expressed concerns about the existing conditions, as developer DVR Greenfield LLC of Springfield and designer Berkshire Design Group had calculated these conditions and degraded areas by using dated information from a previous permit.
Kris Baker with Berkshire Design Group presented additional photos of the site Tuesday evening, and said the design firm had dug around and confirmed there was no topsoil where the hotel had been previously located.
“Most of the site is absent of topsoil due to the previous development,” Baker said. “It’s very gravelly and disturbed.”
After reviewing the photos, members of the Conservation Commission agreed that not much has changed and the site is as degraded as the applicant had indicated.
“I would feel comfortable moving forward with saying the degraded areas are degraded,” Vice Chair Travis Drury said.
In 2018, the Rodeway Inn was torn down, and permits were issued to authorize the site to be redeveloped into another hotel and a separate restaurant. Those plans never came to fruition, and the property was sold again in 2022 to Mag Real Estate Holdings Mohawk Trail LLC for $2.75 million.
Now, DVR Greenfield LLC, owned by the Patel family of Springfield, is looking to build a three-story hotel with 92 rooms farther back on the lot, and a 5,800-square-foot restaurant closer to the road, with parking on the sides and in between the buildings.
The commission also briefly reviewed the erosion control plan. Baker said the plan would be to put up fencing and erosion barriers around the entirety of the site during construction. Members also began to consider the stormwater management plan, which they are expected to continue reviewing at the next meeting.
The Conservation Commission will continue its hearing on Tuesday, Aug. 25, at 6:30 p.m. Additionally, the Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled to hold a special permit hearing on Thursday, Aug. 20, at 6:30 p.m. regarding the applicant’s request to allow parking in the front yard under zoning ordinance Sections 200-6.5 and 200-6.8.
