EASTHAMPTON — A former Pleasant Street package and variety store will be renovated into housing.

The Easthampton Planning Board on June 6 unanimously approved a special permit to convert a former mixed-use building with two apartments and a vacant retail space into a six-unit apartment building.

“We’re looking to retain the historic nature of the building even though not much of the history of the building physically remains. We’re recladding the exterior. We’re looking to put back the storefront that was once there and give the building some character,” Geoff Arthur, principal at Meeting House Architecture Inc. in Florence, told the board.

The property, located at 42-44 Pleasant St., is owned by Michelle Pontbriant and her brothers, Lawrence R. Pontbriant and Andre Pontbriant. The family operated the Pleasant Street Package Store and A Pleasant Variety from 1935 to 2010. Michelle Pontbriant said her father, Lawrence “Larry” Lafayette Pontbriant ran the package store as the owner and manager from 1968 until his retirement at 81 years old in 2010.

Her mother, Gertrude Pontbriant, ran the variety store from 1981 until her death in 2001. Michelle Pontbriant ran the store from 2001 until 2008.

The store was leased out from 2011 to 2021, until the building commissioner closed the space at the end of 2021 due to nonpermitted alterations to the space.

The building is pre-existing, non-conforming due to encroachments in the front setbacks on both Pleasant Street and Hill Avenue.

Arthur explained that though the assessors property card states that there are four units on the second floor, there are only two there, which are both currently occupied.

“It’s actually one big empty space — it was never built out as two additional apartments,” said Arthur.

Moving forward, the owners will retain the two existing one-bedroom apartments, and are planning to transition the 2,600 gross square feet of ground floor retail into three, one-bedroom apartments, and 1,200 gross square feet into one, one-bedroom apartment.

The owners also intend to make some overall improvements to the property, including repairing the masonry, installing new cladding and trim, and replacing the roof. They will also replace the windows for those with higher sound-transmission class ratings.

Michelle Pontbriant told the Gazette that she and her brothers will keep some of the older touches such as her grandfather’s tin walls and ceiling as well as repurposing her grandfather’s display shelving and cabinets in each apartment.

“We are trying to put a touch of fun and home into each apartment because that’s what the building reminds us of,” she said.

The applicant was granted a variance and special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals to expand to change the use of a non-conforming structure on May 24.

At the June 6 meeting, the Planning Board discussed the parking area and the dumpster, with member James Zarvis noting that the area was very tight. Arthur indicated that the parking spaces were 9-foot by 20-foot, which would allow for a 15-foot wide driveway. In total, there would be six parking spaces available for each apartment and one extra space for visiting parking.

Other projects

The Planning Board also unanimously approved a special permit to Easthampton Mahadev LLC, which is owned by Naresh Patel, to renovate the second floor one-bedroom apartment into four, one-bedroom apartments at 334 Main St.

The current residential space is approximately 2,700 square feet, according to Terry Reynolds, principal of Florence-based T Reynolds Engineering, who spoke on behalf of the applicant.

The special permit would convert the single-family residence that is part of the mixed-use residential and commercial structure to a “multi-family” use.

The two-story structure includes a retail space on the ground floor, which is currently housed by College Highway Variety.

The applicant was granted a special permit from the Zoning Board of Appeals to expand to change the use of a non-conforming structure on April 26.

As part of the applicant’s proposal, Reynolds said plans include providing four parking spaces in the back of the building that will be designated as tenant use only with one extra designated for visitors. He described the current parking at the front of the variety store as being “haphazard” as there is no current delineation of parking spaces. He also noted that portions of the property had been encumbered over the years both by the state to widen the road and by the city to create a sidewalk.

Board members expressed concern for taking away from parking in the back of the store as it could potentially worsen parking problems and further impact Main Street.

“I am a little worried about it. There is some traffic there. People do drive at a higher speed down that road and it’s a bit of a mess,” said Zarvis. “I just don’t want to make a decision that’s actually going to hurt somebody.”

Zarvis added that his concerns were small enough that he was willing to let it go.

Patel indicated that the store’s customers do not use the parking in the back. He also noted that when he bought the store in 2001, he had roughly 400 customers a day, but that has dropped off significantly. He spoke how he used to have multiple salespeople stopping by to encourage him to offer their product, but that, too, has dropped off.

“Nobody comes anymore,” he said.

Chairperson Jesse Belcher-Timme responded saying that he rarely observes more than one customer in the lot at a time.

In the end, the board approved the permit, adding that if the applicant was looking to change the use on the first floor it would require an additional approval from the board.

Emily Thurlow can be reached at ethurlow@gazettenet.com.]]>