HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-12-15-CRC-min RECEIVED 9
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JAN 2 3 1984
Minutes of Center Revitalization Committee
The Center Revitalization Committee (CRC) met on December 15, 1983 at F
12 37 FM in the Selectmen' s Meeting Room in the Town Office Building
Present from the CRC were Margery Battin (Chair) , Jacqueline Bateson,
Laura Nichols, John Powell , Robert Sacco, Joseph Trani and David Wells
Robert Bowyer and Walter Tonaszuck were present from the Town Also attending I
were Norma Bogen (Land Use Subcommittee) , Fay Bussgang, Frank Cavatorta,
John Eddison, Angela Frick (MAPC) , Sheila Hoadley, Judy Newman (Land Use
Subcommittee) , John Oberteuffer (Conservation Commission) and Don Olson (Land
Use Subcommittee) Timothy Wege represented the Chamber of Commerce
The agenda for the meeting included approval the minutes from the December 1 i
meeting, discussion of possible warrant articles, a change in the commuter
bus stop and elimination of parking on part of Winthrop Road
Approval of minutes from December 1 meeting Several changes were proposed to
the submitted minutes It was suggested that the minutes be changed to say
that a policeman was not necessary to control the traffic light at Waltham
Street and Mass Ave It was also suggested that it be stated that a direct
access to Grant Street from the Edison Way lot was not possible and that
there should be a reversal lane and channelization at the Woburn Street /Mass i
Ave intersection R Sacco suggested that approval of the minutes be delayed
until the CRC had a copy with the final changes N Battin asked if it was
OK to release the preliminary draft to the newspaper with the proposed
changes The CRC had no objection
Discussion of Parking Area near Park Drive and Muzzey Street M Battin had
contacted Tony Clough, from the School Committee, and Geoffrey Pierson,
School Superintendent , to get their reaction to the proposal to build a
parking area for permit parking on school property adjacent to the High
School The school administration has several concerns about the proposal
including the problem of parking on Muzzey Street and the proximity to the
High School with the problem of safety of students going to and from the High
School and the problem of control of the students in the parking areas
Clough and Pierson said that moving of the school administration out of the
School Administration building is part of the school closing plan, but there
would be no decision until February 1984 and no action until 1985
W Tonaszuck had contacted the Police Department for their reaction to the
parking proposal They expressed concerns about landscaping around the area
D Wells contacted the Recreation Committee The Recreation Committee was
primarily concerned with the precedence of using recreation land for parking
"Where will the next encroachment be?" they ask They were also concerned
with the aesthetics of the proposed parking area It was also pointed out
that the drawing of the church land was inaccurate and there was no land
available behind the church
J Oberteuffer from the Conservation Commission reminded the CRC that much of
the area was wetland and would require action by the Great and General Court
and the Town Meeting Furthermore, there has been a change in the state
wetlands law and there might be less latitude under the new law He was not
optimistic about this proposal
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L Nichols reported that the Land Use Subcommittee is opposed to the use of
the residential areas around the Center for parking areas for employees and
customers of the Center The group felt that since the Belfry Lot was not
fully utilized at present , further parking in the area could not be
justified There was no objection from the Land Use Subcommittee to the
development of parking at the end of Park Drive adjacent to the playground
W Tonaszuck said that this area was too far from the Center and there was no
demand for parking in this area The Land Use Subcommittee is also concerned
with safety because of cars backing on to Muzzey Street It would also be
difficult to develop the area without worsening the water problems in the
area
W Tonaszuck also met Don Olson, representing the neighbors There was a lot
of negative reaction from the neighbors to the proposal It was felt that if
there was to be any parking developed, then it should be behind the church
M Battin summarized the concerns expressed by all the people contacted The
school department had no problem with parking directly on Park Drive
However, even this area would require a 2/3 vote in Town Meeting and 2/3 vote
in the Great and General Court
T Wege from the Chamber of Commerce said that the proposal should be pursued
since the 195 spaces would help alleviate the present shortage of 221 spaces
The Chamber would like to see money spent where it would have the most effect
to alleviate the parking problem
M Battin asked if there was agreement that it would be unwise to proceed
with a proposal for a large parking area adjacent to the high school and
perpendicular parking on Muzzey because of widespread opposition and our own
concerns about safety and aesthetics The committee agreed
W Tonaszuck reviewed the options for other development on Park Drive The
first was to build 54 spaces of parallel parking for $31 ,000 The second
option was to build the 54 spaces with another 10 behind the church for
$39 , 000 The third option was to build 86 spaces of perpendicular parking on
Park Drive for $82,000 The third option has the problem of cars backing out
on to Park Drive and it was being studied to see what the upper limit was in
the number of spaces that could be built in the area The above costs are for
construction only and do not include cost of landscaping the area
L Nichols proposed a compromise of parallel parking on the south side of
Park Drive and perpendicular parking on the north side of Park Drive behind
the church There would be no parking behind the three houses on Forest
Street closest to Waltham Street
M Battin asked if the CRC would at least keep space available on the Warrant
for development of a parking area and continue to explore more limited
parking on Park Drive in line with the Nichols Proposal
Meriam Street Lot The discussion turned to the Meriam Street lot
W Tonaszuck said there were generally 26 to 28 empty spaces in the permit
area In a survey, they found 9 cars with permits had not used to lot in a
whole week The permit area has 76 spaces and 94 permits had been sold
J Bateson said that the lot was underutilized, but that there were times
when people with permits could not find space there W Tonaszuck said there
were 30 people on the waiting Iist for permits in the Meriam Street lot , but
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he felt that some of these were on the list just for insurance and would not
necessarily purchase permits when they became available K Sorensen
suggested that the lot be made available for ticket parking on holidays and
weekends when full-time employees generally did not need the space
R Bowyer suggested that no more permits be issued and that the present
permit area be slightly reduced He also suggested that permit holders be
permitted to park in the rest of the lot for free He agreed that the permit
area should be available to all ticket holders for parking on weekends,
holidays and evenings
J Oberteuffer suggested that attendants be hired to staff the parking lots
They would park the cars and many more cars could then be parked in the same
amount of area Perhaps the attendants could work only during the peak time
of the day It would be a matter of hiring several workers and they could be
paid out of fees for parking
W Tonassuck pointed out that the Town was not a private business and that
the money to be spent had to be appropriated by the Town Meeting and the
receipts would go to the E & D Fund Such a scheme of attended parking lots
was at least a year away It was also impractical because of budget
restrictions and liability problems
R Bowyer said that there was no time right now to work on attended parking ,
but that the Town should appropriate money to pay for Town staff for parking
studies and administration
M Battin pointed out that since the issue we all appeared to agree upon was
better utilization of existing spaces, these recommendations merited further
consideration and if an attendant might contribute to a solution, monies
could be asked for at ' 84 Town Meeting to go into effect July ' 84
D Wells said that there was still the problem of dealing with the 28 empty
spaces in the Meriam Street lot K Sorensen suggested that the permit be
used as a pass and that no spaces be reserved for permit parking After
discussion, the CRC decided to recommend to the Board of Selectmen that a six
month experiment be tried where permits would allow parking without buying a
ticket from the machine, but no spaces would be reserved for permit parking
Permits would be valid on weekends
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J Bateson suggested that a meter person be hired to enforce parking
regulations because many people were parking without buying a ticket
School Administration Lot At this point there was more discussion of the
development of the school administration lot for permit parking See
discussion above M Battin felt that , because of great opposition two years
ago, it was unwise to bring the school administration lot proposal back to
Town Meeting in ' 84 W Tonaszuck said that the lot had 21 spaces and 21
permits and was never fully utilized There is no waiting list for permits in
the school administration lot Some of the permits are purchased by
businesses that move and do not inform the Town
Parking on Mass Ave from Winthrop Road to Slocum Road A letter was
received from a resident on Hunt Road suggesting that the parking on the
south side of Mass Ave from Winthrop Road to Hunt Road was a hazard because
of reduced sight distances for cars coming from Hunt Road on to Mass Ave
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J Trani said that the problem was serious and existed all the way to Slocum
Road A motion was made by J Trani and seconded by L Nichols to recommend
to the Board of Selectmen that parking be prohibited on the south side of
Mass Ave from Winthrop Road to Slocum Road After further discussion, the
motion was amended and voted to prohibit parking from 6 to 10 AM with 2 hour
parking permitted thereafter It was agreed to monitor the results over the
next several months to determine if outright prohibition was needed
Parking on Winthrop Road The discussion turned to a request to extend the
parking prohibition on the east side of Winthrop Road from where it presently
ends near Mass Ave to the point opposite Vine Brook Road L Nichols felt
that this area should have the same 6-10 AM prohibition with two hour parking
to 6 PM as was used on most of the other residential streets around the
Center After further discussion, it was decided by consensus of the CRC that
it be recommended that parking be completely prohibited on the east side of
Winthrop Road from Mass Ave to the point opposite Vine Brook Road
Commuter Bus Stop A short discussion was held and it was decided to
recommend that the commuter bus stop presently at the rear of St Brigid ' s
parking lot on Worthen Road be moved to the area by the Town Pool parking
area on Worthen Road
Meeting The next meeting of the CRC will be held on January 19, 1984 The
time was tentatively set at noon and the place will be the Selectmen' s
meeting room Because the noon hour is difficult for a number of people on
the committee, an evening meeting will be considered
Back to School Administration Lot R Sacco made a motion, seconded by
J Trani , to go forward with bringing the School Administration lot to the
1984 Town Meeting for consideration J Newman, speaking as a neighbor, said
that she was opposed to the development of this area for more parking It
would have a visual impact The lots in the area were small and this area was
the only open area for casual sports where a major street need not be
crossed W Tonaszuck felt that bringing too many proposals to Town Meeting
would reduce the credibility of the CRC People would say that the CRC
represented only the business interests in the Center J Powell and
J Bateson both made the point that development of the area would tend to
improve what it is now an unattractive area D Wells tended to agree with
W Tonaszuck regarding too many articles and felt that the only real solution
to the parking problem in the Center is to build a parking garage The
motion was defeated by a vote of three in favor (J Powell , R Sacco and
J Trani ) and four opposed fM Battin, L Nichols, K Sorensen, and
D Wells) J Bateson abstained
Executive Session The CRC voted unanimously to go into executive session to
discuss the potential acquisition of land where the release of information
would be detrimental to the Town' s interest in its negotiations with the
owner of the land
Meters on Edison Way J Bateson made a motion, seconded by R Sacco, that 15
meters in the Edison Way lot be converted to 10 hour meters J Bateson
reported that Henry Patterson, owner of Bel Canto, was not opposed to the
proposed change The motion passed unanimously
Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 2 51 PM
Respectfully submitted ,
Karsten Sorensen
Revised Jan 21 , 1984 per CRC meeting of Jan 19 , 1984