SOUTH DEERFIELD — Another complaint has been filed regarding the Zoning Board of Appeals’ decision to grant a special permit for the proposed development of a Dollar General on Routes 5 and 10 — this time, by the applicant itself.
After finally receiving approval for a special permit last month after numerous meetings, the applicant — South Deerfield DG Series LLC — filed a complaint with the Franklin County Land Court, appealing the ZBA’s decision to “impose numerous conditions” considered by the applicant to be “unreasonable, arbitrary, capricious and in excess of the Zoning Board of Appeals’ authority.”
The ZBA’s vote of approval was taken Feb. 3, with Chair Bernie Sadoski, members Robert Decker III and Adam Sokoloski, and alternate Alex Herchendreder voting in favor of granting the permit, and member John Stobierski voting against it. The approval included 28 conditions that must be met.
The applicant’s attorney, who represented Dollar General throughout the hearing process, did not respond to a request for comment.
Per the complaint, the imposed conditions — including installing a bus stop at or near the property, and requiring the applicant to source its construction materials and employ contracts from within a 25-mile radius of town — “were not reasonable,” nor do they serve the purpose of the bylaws.
The complaint also takes issue with the condition that requires the applicant to install an electric vehicle charging station, arguing the condition is “whimsical, arbitrary and capricious.”
Although he declined to comment on specifics, Town Counsel Adam Costa said in a statement that he disagrees with the applicant’s appeal.
“The challenged conditions are entirely consistent with the board’s authority, under both statute and bylaw, to impose conditions, safeguards and limitations on time or use,” he wrote. “Massachusetts case law is replete with examples of conditions, not unlike some of those now challenged, that have been imposed as part of a special permitting process; and left unchanged on appeal.”
Costa said he has not yet met with, nor consulted with, the Selectboard regarding the applicant’s appeal.
The applicant’s complaint comes shortly after a group of residents, represented by attorney Michael Aleo, filed a complaint in Western Housing Court in Greenfield, challenging the ZBA’s decision to grant the special permit at all.