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Council approves PVTA expansion, including paint booth, at 665 Cottage Street
Summary
The Springfield City Council granted a special permit allowing the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority to build a 50,000-square-foot addition at 665 Cottage Street that includes an indoor paint booth and additional bus parking; the council also recorded neighborhood and departmental approvals and said the permit includes conditions.
The Springfield City Council on Monday approved a special permit allowing the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority (PVTA) to build a roughly 50,000-square-foot addition at 665 Cottage Street that will add interior bus parking, maintenance space and a paint booth for vehicle painting and bodywork.
City planning staff had recommended approval with conditions after the petitioner secured a negative determination from the conservation commission and engineering sign-offs. Michael Petron, senior project manager with VHB, presented shop drawings and said the proposal would finish a project that was truncated in 2007 and would add the paint booth as part of an expanded maintenance operation.
The addition, Petron said, shows the new maintenance bays and interior bus parking. "The new proposal is to install additional bus parking interior to the building with, also with some additional maintenance space," he told the council. Kathleen Brown of the East Springfield Neighborhood Council spoke in favor, saying the neighborhood supported the planning department conditions.
PVTA officials said the move consolidates work now split across facilities. John Burke, PVTA manager of capital projects, said the Main Street paint booth will close and staff will be relocated to Cottage Street. "We will be moving the people over to do that work," Burke said, and added the expansion could allow future hiring as the facility grows.
Councilors asked about environmental controls and oversight. Petron said the project packet included the ventilation/venting system; Petron and PVTA confirmed the conservation commission issued a negative determination because a pond and isolated wetland are within the rear 100-foot buffer and staff designed the project to meet those constraints. Councilor Davila, among others, acknowledged the ventilation material in the packet and noted staff working at the facility.
The council voted to approve the special permit after deliberation and verbal findings. The clerk recorded roll-call support; a councilor summarized the reasons as: the site is appropriate for the use; the proposed development would not adversely affect the neighborhood; and adequate facilities will be provided for the proposed use. The council approved the permit and the findings were adopted.
The permit includes continuing regulatory oversight: building permits, site plan conditions and the planning staff's recommended conditions. PVTA said the Main Street paint booth will cease operations once Cottage Street is fully built out; staff also said they expect to consolidate paratransit and fixed-route operations under the agency’s facility plan.
The council vote was recorded as approval; the permit will move forward with the planning conditions and standard building and environmental controls.
