GREENFIELD — The City Council has voted to change the zoning on Bernardston Road near the city line from Rural Residential to General Commercial to make it easier for businesses to move there, particularly a marijuana cultivator that has its eye on the Indoor Action Sports property.
The council voted unanimously Wednesday night during its monthly meeting after receiving unanimous positive recommendations from both the city’s Planning Board and its own Economic Development Committee. The vote required a two-thirds majority.
The change was first proposed by citizens, including Indoor Action owner Jeff Coulson. Abutters were notified and a joint public hearing was held by the Planning Board and Economic Development Committee. The council held its public hearing Wednesday night. No one spoke against the change at either of the public hearings.
Coulson declined to talk about any details at this time, because much remains undetermined. He said because the property, which is about 12 acres, was in the Rural Residential zone, that put up roadblocks for anyone seeking to use the property for virtually any type of business. He said he’s ready to sell the property and retire, and he’ll provide more information as he talks with possible buyers.
Several other properties are involved, including one on which a large solar array is going to be built and several smaller ones that are mostly farmland and wetlands, including one across the street from Indoor Action.
Although Precinct 7 City Councilor Otis Wheeler said at first he was concerned about sprawl at that end of the city if zoning changed there, but he realized there’s not a lot of room to build, so that wouldn’t happen. He noted the Planning Board has said that anyone who wants to build there will have to go through the board for permission.
If the marijuana cultivator decides it wants to buy the Indoor Action property — which includes a couple of buildings, a parking lot, a basketball court and the large white dome that can be seen from Interstate 91 southbound in Greenfield near the Bernardston line — it would still have to go through all state and local permitting to run such a facility, explained Greenfield Planning and Development Director Eric Twarog.
Twarog said the city needed to rezone the entire area around Indoor Action because otherwise it would appear to be “spot zoning,” and that isn’t allowed by the state. Spot zoning means changing a particular property’s zoning to make it easier to do something the owner wants.
Councilors agreed that the Indoor Action property would actually be perfect for growing marijuana because it’s “tucked away nicely” and really can’t be seen from Bernardston Road or Interstate 91, except for the dome. They also agreed that Greenfield should be looking at attracting more businesses, not making it more difficult for them to come to Greenfield.
Precinct 5 City Councilor Timothy Dolan did say, though, that he would prefer to see the city be more “proactive” in its attempts to rezone areas and make it more attractive to businesses. He said this particular zoning change was “reactive” because there was already a business looking to sell and another to buy, and the zoning change was needed for that to happen.
“It sets a precedent we don’t want to set,” he said, but voted for the change because he agreed it was a good idea. “The city will benefit,” he said.
Several councilors said the city should begin looking at other areas of Greenfield to make sure they are zoned appropriately. They said they fear Greenfield has lost the interest of prospective businesses in the past because of its zoning.
Most of the area along Bernardston Road now zoned General Commercial consists of small businesses or former business buildings. There are a couple of homes there. Coulson said he believes he might have been grandfathered in when he bought the property decades ago because it was zoned Rural Residential.
The change extends the existing General Commercial zoning district to the Bernardston town line and includes parcels on either side of Bernardston Road in that area, including the Indoor Action property.
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.