In addition to the Berkshire Development matter, I see that Creg Dance is on the agenda concerning possible site plan applications for uses of his property on Wentworth Road that may currently contravene provisions of Residential A zoning that the Zoning Board pointed out two weeks ago.
9-9-05
New Approach to Walpole’s North Meadows Plaza Project
By Charles C. Bingaman, Contributing Writer
Tim Traynor of Berkshire Development USA, the firm hired to redevelop Walpole’s North Meadow Plaza strip mall, announced Thursday that the firm would no longer seek to persuade the town to lift its 40,000 square foot limit on commercial stores and would seek instead to build within the current zoning regulation.
“I’d be much more comfortable spending money building new buildings and a great new façade for the current building than in spending it to challenge the town’s zoning regulation,” claimed Traynor.
During an informational meeting at Hastings House, Traynor unveiled concept drawings for new construction in the triangle formed by Route 12, Upper Valley Road and the current strip mall’s parking lot and now used for a baseball field. The new construction showed a grocery store—Berkshire’s anchor tenant—of just under 40,000 square feet and four other stores totaling 25,000 square feet. The four additional stores that might or might not be connected to the grocery. It also showed an “out parcel” store in the point of the angle made by Route 12 and Upper Valley Road and referred to it as a "donut shop." The concept drawings, designed by Wagner Engineering Associates, Inc. of Portsmouth and Omega Design Architecture, PC of Cary, North Carolina, envision a parking lot with 340 spaces and a new access off Route 12, probably with a stoplight. A second entrance off Upper Valley Road would be added as well as a service entrance to the rear of the buildings that would face southwest toward the point of the triangle.
Traynor has previously assured Walpole that Berkshire would replace the ball field with another at a site to me found.
In addition to the new construction, the concept drawings contemplate construction of new facades for the current strip mall.
Traynor explained that, while he had previously thought that a grocery of at least 55,000 square feet was the minimum necessary to served the needs of the Walpole market and to enable a grocery tenant to offer better inventory and lower pricing than the current Shaw’s Supermarket, a recent trip to Maine and a visit to a 38,000 square foot grocery there had convinced him otherwise. And it didn’t hurt that he had also concluded that the time, effort and expense of fighting Walpole’s zoning regulations could not be justified and might well fail anyway.
Traynor reported that he had offered to meet with John Hansel, chairperson of Walpole Tomorrow, the community group that has been gearing up to oppose the development of a commercial store or stores exceeding the 40,000 square foot limit but that a meeting has never taken place. Traynor did note that, “a group such as that can be an ally for good growth.”
Traynor announced that he will return to Walpole next Tuesday evening to make an informal presentation to the Zoning Board to be followed by the preparation and submission of formal site plans for approval over the next few months. He said Berkshire will “make a conscious effort” to stay within Walpole’s zoning regulations. He said that, depending on how quickly approvals can be arranged and tenants committed, construction could begin as early as next spring.In answer to audience questions, Traynor said that he had had discussions with several possible grocery store tenants but that no decisions had been made. In the past, Berkshire has worked quite often with the Stop & Shop grocery chain. He also noted that surveys Berkshire had conducted with Walpole area residents last winter had indicated that there is a wish by many for a mid-priced women’s clothing store and possibly one or more professional services offices that could go in the “additional parcels of the new building.”
The Walpole Zoning Board holds its regular monthly meeting at 7:30 next Tuesday evening in Town Hall. (End of article.)
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Opinion
- Berkshire Development’s investors DO own space in a commercially zoned area. The town has agreed to commercial uses in it. Berkshire Development is simply seeking a way to get the targeted return on its investors’ money by developing the space south of the current North Meadows Plaza. Berkshire would prefer not to have to spend time and money trying to get the town to vote to change the 40,000 square foot zoning limit on store size. Berkshire will couch its proposals in terms of benefits to the town, but the reality is that it represents its investors—not Walpole citizens—and that hoped-for benefits to its investors are the driving force here.
- This new proposal is an effort to get around Walpole’s 40,000 square foot limit on “shops, restaurants and other commercial establishments” by internally subdividing a 65,000 big box building to allow a 40,000 square foot grocery and 25,000 square feet for several smaller rental spaces for other stores. In fact this is an even larger building than previously described when, last winter, Berkshire was talking about a 55,000 square foot free-standing grocery as the minimum necessary to give Walpole the grocery it “needs”. (At last Thursday’s meeting, Berkshire people, while conceding that the new proposal suggests a 65,000 square foot building, agreed that they could divide it into two separate buildings, each of 40,000 square feet or fewer. Of course they would prefer NOT to do that as it would add expense to the construction and operation.)
- Shaw’s continues to allow its store here to be a mediocre outlet, possibly because of the uncertainty with the Berkshire Development plan, possibly because it is profitable as it is and there would be little profit in upgrading the store as a minority of its customers would like. In fact the North Meadow Plaza, as a whole, is an unattractive, out of date facility that no one can be very proud of. But I personally have not seen a development program for the substantial green space in the triangle south of it, even allowing for Berkshire’s proposed façade face-lifting in the current space, that would be preferable to the green space and ball field that exists there now. If you add the euphemistically labeled “donut shop” on the corner and an additional entrance off Route 12 as Berkshire’s new plan does, possibly with a stoplight or two, the advent of significantly increased traffic hassles makes this new proposed development even less attractive to me.
- All interested Walpole citizens should attend the Walpole Planning Board meeting at Town Hall Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. to hear the Berkshire presentation and to form educated opinions on this important matter to our town’s future.
- It would be interesting and useful for registered Walpolean readers to add their comments to this article. Simply click on the “comment” word at the bottom of this entry and type in your comment. Click “Save” and your comment will be available for all of the rest of us to read.
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