The owner of the restaurant and Gem Marina at 141 Congamond Road requested a modification of his special permit to convert transient boat slips to long-term rentals. The total number of boats that can dock there is not changing. It remains at 40.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
SOUTHWICK — The Planning Board closed a public hearing on a request by the owner of Gem Marina at 141 Congamond Road asking it to modify its special permit to allow it to convert four of its transient-use boat slips, which now total 16, to increase the number of long-term slip rentals to 28.
“I’m looking to add marina rental slips, four in total, and I’m hoping that’s not a problem,” said Gem Marina owner Kenneth Eggleston during the board’s meeting on Feb. 24.
If the board approves the request, which it appeared to be leaning toward, the marina will have 28 long-term slips for rent and 12 for use by those who temporarily park their boat at the dock to visit the restaurant, which closed several months ago.
The total number of available slips remains at 40.
Eggleston’s request was contingent on having adequate parking for the increase in the number of rental slips.
The special permit he is operating under allows one-half of a parking space for every long-term rental slip, so he needed to identify two parking spaces.
“At this time, we have 62 parking spaces, of which only 60 are needed,” he said while the board looked at a site plan map identifying the two additional spaces.
The DPW was asked to weigh in on the request and did so in a letter sent to the board by its director, Rich Bosak, which was read into the record by Planning Board Chair Jessica Thornton.
“DPW has no comments specific to the change requested under this application,” wrote Bosak.
However, he wrote, there were several waste receptables on the north side of the building that appeared open, a possible violation of the special permit, and a waste cooking oil receptacle.
Eggleston said he had expected the former tenant of the building to have gotten approval for the waste grease receptacle.
Thornton said she was unsure about how to go about approving a waste grease receptacle, but reminded Eggleston that as the owner of the special permit, it was his responsibility and not the tenant’s.
While Fire Chief Richard Stefanowicz also sent a letter to the board about the department’s concerns, he attended the meeting remotely.
“My only concern was that we maintain some type of fire lane access, and it would make sense to keep that fire lane on the approach to the Fire Department connection for the sprinkler systems,” he said, adding that he didn’t know if the permit had a designated open access fire lane.
Thornton read into the record a response prepared by Levesque Associates, Inc., which said no fire lane needed to be identified.
“The applicant had previously gone through extensive Planning Board review, including review by the Fire Department on the parking lot arrangement and vehicular access for the site. While we appreciate and respect the Fire Department’s comprehensive awareness of safety, the applicant is unable to alter the current parking configuration to accommodate a new fire lane,” according to the letter.
Eggleston said that a truck loading area, which is only used twice a week, provided access to the Fire Department connection for the sprinkler system and wondered if that might alleviate the Fire Department’s concern.
Stefanowicz said that would work.
When Thornton asked if there were any comments from the public about the special permit request, Kurt Saunder, who owns Saunders Boat Livery Inc., spoke in favor of the request.
“And I also wanted you to know that Mr. Eggelston did not ask me to come here and speak it tonight,” Saunders said.
Thornton said the board would have a written decision prepared for its next meeting on March 10.
Last February, Eggleston’s special permit was modified to allow him to add four rental slips to the northern dock, which is adjacent to the Middle/South Pond culvert.
Those four slips were the four lost when the town appealed Eggleston’s Chapter 91 permit in 2023, which is required by the state when installing permanent or long-term use structures on any of the state’s navigable waters.
The town alleged the northern dock could be a safety issue for boats moving through the culvert.
After mediation, Eggleston agreed to reduce the length of the dock by four slips, but after two years of operation, he would be allowed to request of the harbormaster the installation of those four, which Police Chief and Harbormaster Rhett Bannish agreed to.
Eggleston’s Chapter 91 permit allows the marina to have as many as 49 slips.
When Eggleston bought the building at 141 Congamond Road in 2022, he spent the better part of a year updating the building while seeking a new tenant to run the operation. It was Fusion Bar & Grill that opened there first, and then its name was changed to LakeView Tavern, which closed in October.
He said at the Planning Board meeting that he hopes the restaurant has a tenant and opens this summer.
