Hadley Planning Board Continues 7Brew Application, Cites Missing Fire and Engineering Reviews

HADLEY -- May 6, 2025, Hadley Planning Board continues 7Brew drive-thru application to June 3, tells Walmart signage expansion is blocked. Civil engineer Marcus Puddock presented site plans Tuesday for a roughly 525-square-foot 7Brew coffee shop at 347 Russell Street, adjacent to the Jiffy Lube near Mountain Farms Mall, seeking special permit, site plan, and aquifer-zone approval. The four-member board voted 4-0 to continue the public hearing to June 3 after Chair Bill Dwyer said outstanding peer engineering review, fire department sign-off from Chief Mike Spanknavel, and Conservation Commission review, scheduled for May 13, must be completed before the board will vote. Board member Mark Dunn called the site's shared Jiffy Lube access points "three entrances and three exits in about 90 feet of frontage with very little separation." Earlier, the board told a team of four Walmart representatives that the store's existing signage already exceeds Hadley's 64-square-foot building sign limit under a prior Zoning Board of Appeals variance, and that proposed additions, including a new Walmart logo sign, a pharmacy sign, and a grocery-and-home sign, cannot be approved; Dwyer noted the town has rejected sign bylaw expansions at Town Meeting at least twice without reaching the required two-thirds majority.