Belchertown Planning Board Conditions Pelham Road Project on Right-Turn-Only Restriction

BELCHERTOWN — June 9, 2026 — Belchertown Planning Board signals conditional approval for a nine-unit Pelham Road rental development, with a right-turn-only exit as the likely traffic fix. The board held its third public hearing June 9 on the site plan submitted by 50 Federal Operating Company, LLC for Assessors Map 238, Lots 62 and 63, receiving final no-further-comment letters from peer review engineer Tighe and Bond, the town water district, and the Department of Public Works. The project was reduced from 10 units to nine after the town's Aquifer Protection District impervious surface limit required downsizing one building, bringing coverage to 13 percent in the protected zone. A traffic study by Hussaini Design Group found the project would add 26 peak-hour vehicle trips — a roughly 25 percent increase — and that the Pelham Road left-turn exit at Federal Street will degrade to level of service D by 2033 with or without the project. One board member put a right-turn-only restriction squarely on the table: "I'm going to put that on the table as a condition of my approval — not speaking for the board, speaking for me — that we make that into a right-hand turn, with the project working with DPW to get the sign installed and get the paint on the road." A Pelham Road resident and math teacher challenged the study's single-day May count, noting colleges had already dismissed for summer, depressing normal traffic volumes.