Agawam City Council cautions naysaying neighbors, approve senior living zone change

AGAWAM — Be careful what you ask for. That was the message Agawam City Councilors shared with the neighbors of the vacant property at 430 N. West St. in Feeding Hills. The council voted 9-0 on July 13 to approve a zone change from Business B and Residence A-2. The change was sought to make it less cumbersome to place a senior living facility on the property. Despite the business being allowed in both zones, residents lined up at the June hearing and July meeting to speak against placing the business in that location.

Chantal Bernard, owner of Chanda Care, Inc., plans to build three single-family houses on the 1.36-acre. She and her husband will live in one of them, while the other two will be four-bedroom group homes for older people. On June 15, Rob Levesque of R. Levesque Associates presented preliminary plans for the site. He said keeping the site zoned Business B allows developers to build projects ranging from a gas station to a hotel on the site. By changing the zone to Residence A-2, the property is limited to homes with no more than four bedrooms. Bernard said her career had been in healthcare, and the homes would create options for people in Agawam to stay in the town in their twilight years.

Nonetheless abutters expressed concerns that there would be high ambulance traffic, dumpsters filled with used adult diapers or visitors unknown to them. Each of the people who offered comment during the hearing said they supported Bernard’s mission to supply housing to older people but did not want to live next door to such a home.

At the July meeting, Bernard’s husband, Robert Ferrier, said the property meets all the town’s requirements for building three homes. He said that, as a first responder, he has answered calls at every care facility in Agawam and never seen the conditions the neighbors feared. “What we find inside are real people with real problems,” he said. He said the people living in those homes are “the same ones who took care of us when we needed to be fed and changed.”

City Councilor Dino Mercadante said his concern had been whether the property would become a nonprofit and therefore come off the tax rolls. After being assured Bernard did not plan to make the property tax exempt, he said he was willing to vote for the project.

“People have to understand that the land is not going to stay empty and sometimes you have to take a chance and weigh the options of, would you rather have a business there? Would you rather have a residence there, or several residences there?” Mercadante said. “Be careful what you ask for… It’s really important to do a deep dive and think about this, about what you can live with over the long haul.” He assured neighbors that the project would go through the appropriate board and city departments to ensure it complies with ordinances and state laws.

Councilor Tom Hendrickson echoed Mercadante’s comments. “The land is currently zoned as business. If you leave it as business, you could end up with a gas station, a restaurant, a hair salon. I think by putting what are essentially houses in that neighborhood, I think it fits in well with the current character of the neighborhood,” Hendrickson said, noting that he lives in the neighborhood. He also said that there is a strong need for senior care housing.

Councilor Peter McNair said he would also vote for the project and added that Bernard has been a “great asset to the community.”