CHICOPEE — During the Zoning Committee meeting on Oct. 30, the agenda featured two separate projects that involved two separate vacant mill sites in the city.
The first item involved the renewing of an existing special permit for a proposed multi-family development with waiver of parking requirements from 88 to 75 space at 0 Oak St.
The location is a vacant lot at the corner of Oak and West Main streets, across from the former Uniroyal Campus and the applicant is Gregory Szyluk, Culper Properties LLC.
It is located in the city’s Mill Conversion and Commercial Overlay District, which allows mixed uses.
The original proposal was submitted and approved in 2020, but the coronavirus pandemic halted the construction of the project.
Szyluk said the project has not changed since its original proposal which included two, three story buildings with 42 apartments in one building and nine in the second. It also was previously stated that there will be 15 two-bedroom apartments, 21 one-bedroom units and 12 studios.
The Zoning Committee approved the application renewal and parking space waiver. The City Council is expected to discuss and vote on this item at its next meeting on Nov. 7.
During the Nov. 7 City Council meeting, Ward 4 City Councilor George Balakier, who serves on the Zoning Committee, discussed the proposal.
He said, “This previously had been approved but I think because the [COVID-19] situation and also some economics, the potential developer waited for some more favorable financial terms so they came before us. The consensus was to approve the special permit renewal for proposed mutli-family with the condition that the applicant must comply with all requests and conditions of the Overlay District Review Committee.”
The second item involved a special permit application for the purpose of a mixed-use development including up to 600 new, residential units and up to 400,000 square feet of commercial space within the former Cabotville Complex.
The property is located at 165 Front St. and falls under the City’s Mill Conversion and Commercial Overlay District, which allows mixed uses.
The proposal was submitted by 165 Front LLC, of New York City.
During the meeting, Ward 4 City Councilor George Balakier, who serves on the committee, read aloud a letter from the applicant to withdraw its application due to an insufficient amount of information.
Based on the letter, the applicant, Bridgewater Capital President Mark Junger, realized their documents were not complete and a full review of the property could not be done by its staff.
“We apologize for this inconvenience and are working to render this situation. The application will be submitted again in the future when all required information is assembled,” Junger said in his letter.
The letter also requested its special permit to be withdrawn without prejudice, which means the applicant can resubmit at any time.
The committee unanimously approved to have the application withdrawn without prejudice and the City Council is expected to vote on it at its next meeting on Nov. 7.
Balakier discussed the decision during the Nov. 7 meeting.
He said, “They had a problem because they did not submit all the documentation to the ODRC Committee. The sense was either we were going to deny it or they were going to withdraw. They did the right thing in that they withdrew because otherwise they would have had to wait two years before they could have gone and submitted another application.”
This is not the first time the former Cabotville Industrial Park has had a potential developer or roadblock after the property was bought and put back up for a sale a couple of times after rehab plans fell through.
The 700,000-square-foot facility is spread across seven buildings along the Chicopee River with hopes of being a center piece of Chicopee’s downtown area.
On Aug. 6, the City Council approved two appropriations to the building department special account to allow for emergency demolition/emergency security at 165 Front St.
The first appropriation was for $45,000 for improving security for 165 Front St. or Cabotville.
Vieau said there is a prospective new buyer who is very interested in the building, but the current owner has not been keeping up with the security expenses and the city has incurred that expense.
The following appropriation was for $90,000 for the same reason and property but Vieau said it is a more long-term commitment by potentially bordering up the whole first floor of the “770,000-square-foot building if this is going to be a long-term commitment on behalf of the city and the taxpayers. We want to maintain security.”
