From The Republican

Residents resist plans for Lowe's

Thursday, August 18, 2005
By KATHLEEN E. MOORE
kmoore@repub.com

EAST LONGMEADOW - Residents living near the North Main Street location of a proposed Lowe's home improvement center had some harsh words for the developers during an informational meeting on Tuesday night at the Panera Bread Restaurant.

High on their list of concerns were traffic snarlups along Route 83, noise from trucks, and the impact that the store would have on other local businesses.

"I already have Kelly Fradet and Rocky's (hardware store); why do I need a Lowe's?" said Karen Tessini. "They (the Falcone family) are local people who are investing a lot into this community."

Hosted by Lowe's and the development firm of Edens & Avant, the meeting represented the second time in a week that the project has been publicly discussed. Another informal presentation was made before the Planning Board on Aug. 9.

Representatives from Edens & Avant have said they conducted the meetings to collect and incorporate public sentiment on the project before they present formal plans in the fall.

When they showed the project to the Planning Board last week, representatives of Edens & Avant described it as a 130,000-square-foot building and 788-car parking lot that they want to build on land behind Heritage Plaza. Edens & Avant owns Heritage Plaza.

At this week's meeting, Lowe's official Joseph LaPere said the building was likely to cover 145,000 square feet.

Shawn Kelly, a traffic engineer hired by the developers, said his clients would improve the traffic light synchronization along the busy North Main Street corridor and would add lanes at the Harkness Avenue entrance to the store.

"It's not the lights we're worried about," said Tessini. "How many lanes are you guys going to build for the trucks?"

Asked Edward Noonan, another resident, "If you funnel more traffic into the rotary, what happens then?"

Edward Cloonan said, "When I go out to my backyard to have a barbecue, I don't want to hear trucks and noise from the store. You can't tell me that this won't hurt my property value."

LaPere told him that deliveries to the store would be limited to 6 a.m.-8 p.m., and that there would be trees and retaining walls to serve as buffers. He also noted that Lowe's has customarily been a good corporate neighbor, donating to local charities and hiring local people.

But he did not promise the crowd that they would ultimately see things eye to eye.

"I will tell you this," said LaPere. "This is an industrially zoned parcel, and this is still America, and the guy who owns it has a right to sell it and make money."