GREENFIELD — The Planning Board has approved the site plan for a temporary shelter on Arch Street, where Clinical & Support Options (CSO) plans to relocate beds from the Wells Street shelter while construction on that building gets underway.

Approval for the plan — which includes converting a portion of the second-floor office space at 6 Arch St., owned by CSO, to accommodate up to 45 shelter beds — was granted by the board on the condition it is limited to 18 months. The property is currently zoned Central Commercial.

“We’ve been in support of the total development of this project, which includes the fact that 60 Wells St. has to be vacated this spring in order for it to be redone,” said resident Susan Worgaftik, speaking on behalf of Housing Greenfield. “I think when it’s redone the city is going to be pretty pleased with the results. … Right now, the best way to do that is to build this new site, and we have to get the folks presently in that site out of that site in order to do that.”

One neighbor to the project, however, stated in an email to city officials Thursday night her intent to appeal the decision. Stephanie Duclos argued the project represents “a big change of use.”

The $23 million transformation of the existing shelter at 60 Wells St. includes a renovation of the existing building, expanding shelter capacity from 30 to 40, and construction of a new three-story building that will hold 36 studio apartments geared toward very low-income, formerly homeless individuals. In April, the Zoning Board of Appeals granted the agency a special permit for the studio apartment portion of the project.

Worgaftik said Housing Greenfield worked with CSO to consider various options for temporary shelter during the renovations, including churches, for example, and found the Arch Street site to be the best possible solution.

“We believe that is the best way to be able to serve a large number of people who, right now, are unhoused in the area,” she said.

According to George Dole of Jones Whitsett Architects, which is working with CSO, the 10,000-square-foot space on Arch Street will require “limited” remodeling.

“It has meeting space, it has open space, it has some accessible restrooms … but we are going to be putting in code-required restrooms for the number of clients that this takes,” Dole said, “We’ll be putting in new restrooms with handicap-accessible toilets, stalls and showers, as well as renovating the space throughout.”

Dole added that CSO has been replacing the building’s sprinkler system.

The approval on Thursday evening came despite pushback from two residents who live in the neighborhood and argued the plan constituted a use change, and as a result, should require a public hearing process. Duclos told Planning Board members that in addition to increasing traffic at an already dangerous intersection, the proposal could negatively impact property values. She also expressed concerns about the impact on the waterlines in the area.

Duclos had questions about parking for CSO staff and clients, to which Jane Banks, CSO’s vice president of housing and homeless service, said with MassHire Franklin Hampshire Career Center leaving the building last summer, those spots, located on-site, have opened up for CSO to use.

Duclos’ husband, Ryan Whitney, referenced alleged illicit activity happening in and around the Wells Street shelter, as well as the call volume for emergency response there.

“I don’t want that in my backyard,” he said.

The main concern expressed by Duclos and Whitney, however, seemed to be the lack of a public input process and whether there were protections against long-term use of the Arch Street facility as a shelter. Whitney, in particular, cast doubt on CSO.

“That’s a lot of money to throw at something that’s not going to be permanent,” he said, suggesting CSO would eventually propose a detox site at that location.

Citing Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40A, Section 3, Planning Director Eric Twarog said the property on Arch Street — as an educational use facility — is exempt from the special permit process, which would require a public hearing. He also emphasized the type of temporary shelter proposed does not classify as housing, but rather an institutional use.

“A zoning analysis was done for this, prior to the 60 Wells St. project,” he said. “[CSO] did their due diligence … for all three properties involved in the project. At that time, the zoning analysis said the existing use of 60 Wells St. was office/business. The [special permit] approval was for housing units — 36 studio apartments [as part of the Wells Street project].”

The 6 Arch St. property is located in the same district as the Wells Street shelter, Twarog noted, which allows office and business by right.

“Site plan review is the proper permitting path,” he said.

Still, Whitney and Duclos objected to city officials’ view that the proposed plan did not constitute a change of use.

A heated back-and-forth between Whitney and Twarog led to acting Planning Board Chairman Charles “Chuck” Kinney requesting police remove Whitney from the meeting. Whitney eventually left on his own accord.

“This process has not been respectful to our neighborhood at all,” Whitney said. “So it’s hard to be respectful back.”

The board ultimately approved the site plan with three votes in favor. Chair George Touloumtzis, who is employed by CSO, recused himself from the conversation as well as the deliberation.

Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter (X): @MaryEByrne.