HADLEY — A hotel that has been a fixture of Route 9 for almost 60 years is being converted into extended-stay lodging under new ownership.

But with his recent $6.5 million acquisition of the Howard Johnson motel at 401 Russell St., Amherst developer Barry Roberts is being advised by the Planning Board to get a finding from the Zoning Board of Appeals to determine whether allowing guests to be in rooms for several months at a time is allowed under town zoning, possibly as a pre-existing, non-conforming use.

Planning Board Chairman James Maksimoski told Roberts and Amherst attorney Tom Reidy, of Bacon Wilson, PC, that the concern for planners is that extended-stay lodging, formally known as The Residences, may be considered apartments, which he said aren't defined in Hadley’s zoning bylaw because they are not allowed.

"I’m not against what Barry is proposing; I just want to make sure we can justify what is being requested," Maksimoski said.

Planning Board Clerk William Dwyer said he would like to get more background on the proposal. The Zoning Board of Appeals finding, he said, would show whether an extended stay for several months is permitted.

“I think it is a gray area and I think getting a ZBA finding is not a difficult task,” Dwyer said.

For Planning Board member Joseph Zgrodnik, there may need to be a zoning change to accommodate what he called a “quantum leap change” in how the hotel is used. Zgrodnik said he would also like input from Kyle Scott, the town’s building commissioner.

Reidy told planners that extended stay means greater than 30 days, and as part of the deal between former owner J. Curtis Shumway, as Amherst Development Associates, and Roberts, as Lewray LLC, the property can no longer be operated as a hotel.

In fact, already the Howard Johnson signs have been refaced and Reidy said there will be planting and painting done to beautify the site.

Long term, the property could be included as part of the so-called Chapter 40R smart growth district where the rooms in the building may become apartments and could then be counted toward the incentive payments the town would receive.

Already, Reidy said 70% of those living at the hotel there are professionals, with some visiting professors and some students. They are mostly for people who want to stay for less than a year because work or study brings them to the region.

"It's extended stay. There's no independent living facility in the unit," Reidy said.

Reidy contends it’s not different from two other extended-stay hotels already open on Route 9, the TownePlace Suites and Homewood Suites.

“This isn’t the first one you have,” Reidy said.

The Howard Johnson hotel, with 100 rooms, opened in 1966 as the Howard Johnson Motor Lodge. At the time, it featured the classic pitched orange roof for its lobby, known as a gate lodge, and an attached Howard Johnson Restaurant.

A 40-room addition was constructed in the mid 1990s, which led to the demolition of the gate lodge. Another renovation was completed 20 years ago.

In fall 2021, Shumway, also president of the Hampshire Hospitality Group, proposed a 40,500-square-foot, three-story office building, but Reidy said it’s not economically viable to demolish the hotel and put up that building.

Previously, Shumway, sold the EconoLodge hotel, also on Route 9, to Valley Community Development, which is planning to affordable housing on site and is currently leasing the space to homeless agency Craig’s Doors to house its guests. Shumway has also converted the former University Motor Lodge in Amherst into apartments, though he continues to operate two hotels on Route 9 in Hadley, the Comfort Inn & Suites and the Courtyard by Marriott. Several years ago, Shumway also shuttered the Clarion Hotel in Northampton and has since developed that site, just off Interstate 91 on Route 5, into office and medical buildings on Atwood Drive.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.