GREENFIELD – Local business owners who attended Thursday night’s parking forum seemed to agree that as the city looks to the future of its downtown, parking should not be sacrificed and that a variety of parking configurations may be required.
“I noticed in my block there are currently nine spaces,” said Bill Baker, owner of Baker’s Office Supply on Main Street, referring to city maps that were displayed in the window of the former big Wilson store. “When the renovations and improvements on Main Street take place, there will be five locations. That’s almost a 50% reduction in parking.
In particular, he noticed how spaces were filling up outside Green Fields Market, especially on weeknights.
“You reduce that by 50%, you significantly affect their business,” Baker said.
Speaking from across Main Street, Plum co-owner Heidi Weeks agreed.
“Parking is very important to me,” she said. “Taking spaces away – I don’t like that. … Halving our parking lot, I don’t think it will do downtown any good.
The forum, organized by the Greenfield Business Association, was an opportunity for business owners, members of the public and city officials – MJ Adams, Director of Community and Economic Development, was among the attendees – to share their thoughts. and opinions on downtown parking. The meeting was moderated by urban planning consultant Jeff Sauser.
“Parking, in general … is a lot of things to a lot of people,” Sauser said. “We only have one main street, a set of on-street parking spaces, a fixed number of parking lots and garage spaces, but they are used by many different people for many different reasons.”
Some only need to park for a few minutes while they make a quick stop at a local business, he said; others are looking to park for several hours while they hang around downtown, and still others need to park for day shifts at one of the local businesses.
“I think it’s helpful to start the conversation by acknowledging that range of perspectives,” Sauser said.
Tim Dolan, co-owner of Ice Cream Alley, cautioned against making decisions that aren’t based on facts or data.
“As part of an unrelated project, I spent six months trying to get parking data from the mayor’s office – not just revenue, but how many spaces are occupied at what times of day,” did he declare. “I applied for public record and spoke to the chief of staff and concluded that this information does not exist. … I would really like to see our decisions made on facts and … cars and count the empty spaces There is a correct number of spaces which is neither too many nor too few.
Bob Sunderland, former director of the Franklin County YMCA on Main Street, noted that data and planning should not be based on the current situation, since many businesses – the YMCA being one of them – still not working at full capacity. due to the pandemic.
Speaking as one of the owners of the town center ice cream shop, Dolan said the high street was often empty and “seemed depressing”.
“On a weekday, having all these — row after row — of empty parking spots is not good for my business,” Dolan said. “It’s a space that can be put to better use…but I would really like to see the data.”
Isaac Mass, co-owner of Garden Cinemas, agreed that the need for parking differs by location.
“While there are times when no businesses are open and there is a fairly vacant town center, I think it has to do with the busy hours of the various businesses, unrelated to the whether or not people come downtown,” he said.
Some areas of Main Street, like the west end, which “seems empty all the time,” look significantly different when Holy Trinity Church is in session, Mass noted.
“I think it’s important to think about this mixed use,” he said.
Mass said he currently has parallel parking available in front of his building, but he would be interested in seeing that changed to vertical parking. Cristin Rosinski of Aliber’s Bridal on Federal Street also noted that vertical parking outside the Hangar Pub & Grill would benefit her clientele who often struggle to find parking near their business.
Mass said that prior to the island that was installed on Main Street across from the theater, vertical parking existed there.
“We could use a lot more parking spaces in front of our building,” he said. “I was told we couldn’t do that because there wasn’t enough space because of the island.”
Mass argued that if the island were removed, the vertical spaces would have the same traffic-calming effect that the island was meant to have.
Sauser agreed that street parking has a natural calming effect.
“All types of on-street parking slow down cars and also protect pedestrians from cars,” he said.
He noted, however, that corner parking is considered the most dangerous type of on-street parking, with parallel parking generally being safer.
“On the other hand, people can adapt and get used to it,” Sauser said.
Resident Susan Worgaftik, however, expressed concern about corner parking near Main Street intersections.
“It’s very, very difficult to make a left turn, whether you’re on a bike or in a car,” she says. “I wonder if our whole car park has to be the same – either, yes it’s a corner car park, or no, but there may be a way to mix it up here.”
Journalist Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne
