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Date: 12/23/2015
WEST SPRINGFIELD – In its last meeting of the year on Dec. 21, the West Springfield Town Council moved on two long-standing ordinances.
The Council voted down a zoning amendment referred to as “Nail Salons,” which would impact parking regulations. Instead the Council passed an amendment to the town’s off-street parking and loading standards, which more fully addressed and encompassed the needs of West Springfield.
Previous to the meeting, a study session was conducted regarding further changes to the amendment that Councilor George Condon was planning on proposing.
At its Dec. 7 meeting, the Council heard from a resident who raised issue with how pieces of the ordinance were worded, mainly regarding the parking of motorhomes, boats and campers in driveways. The ordinance said those and “similar vehicles” could not be parked in a driveway for more than seven days in a row or 30 days in a calendar year.
The resident said this was not specific enough and raised questions about the legality of forcing residents to move registered vehicles from their driveways.
The study session focused on addressing the wording of this section. Condon expressed that “selective enforcement” was a concern if this part of the ordinance passed as is. He said the town does not have the resources to enforce this across the board, and issues would only arise of someone were to complain about a neighbor.
“I don’t want this to be used as a tool for harassment,” Condon said.
Ultimately, the group that attended the study session decided to not make any changes to the amendment and bring it to the Council for a vote as is. Because the meeting was the last one for the current Council, if the ordinance was not voted on, the new Council would need to start from scratch in January.
Councilor Bridget Fiala said she did not want to scrap the entire ordinance because of the wording of a handful of pieces.
Condon echoed this, saying a committee would be formed in the 2016 to perfect the wording of any sections that needed “minor tweaks” without being rushed to do so.
“While I don’t think it’s a perfect document by any means, I think it’s a step in the right direction … As the Planning Department starts to enact this and enforce it, hopefully they’ll bring to us issues that they see that need to be addressed with it that we may have missed,” Condon said.
Council President John Sweeney said the ordinance was a great start for the town.
“As Councilor Condon said, it’s not a perfect document. There’s never been a perfect document created by a governmental organization,” Sweeney said.
Mayor Edward Sullivan also honored the three outgoing town councilors, District 1 Councilor Angus Rushlow, District 2 Councilor Lida Powell and Sweeney. Rushlow decided not to run after serving since 2004, and Powell was defeated by her opponent, Nathan Bech.
Sweeney chose not to seek re-election for the District 4 seat. Council Vice President Brian Griffin expressed an emotional thank you to Sweeney and his family for his mentorship and friendship over the years.