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Date: 10/5/2021
SUNDERLAND – A Rapid Recovery Plan, paid for by a state program, may help the town shrug off the new problems from the pandemic by addressing the old problems of the village center.
“It’s been a real opportunity for us to look at things we’ve been thinking about,” said Liz Sillin, a member of the Village Center Committee. “They brought in some specialty consultants in zoning and transportation, landscape and development. This has been a lot of meetings for the people on this committee.”
Sunderland is one of 125 towns in the commonwealth to take advantage of the Rapid Recovery grant program. No money went directly to the town, but other grants may be available to institute the suggested changes. Instead, through the program, the Village Center Committee has been working with OverUnder, a consultancy group from Boston specializing in urban design and usability. A principal member of the group, Rami el Samahy, led a review of the final report at last week’s Selectboard meeting.
“The village center feels like a pass through, rather than a destination,” Samahy said. “You don’t have that quaint New England kind of commercial street. That is in part because you have two state roads going through the center, so you lack some definition.”
According to the OverUnder report, the intersection of Routes 116 and 47, the center of the commercial district, will benefit from immediate efforts to support businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey by the consultants revealed that four out of seven Sunderland businesses saw a loss of income during the pandemic. Brett Pierson, a designer with the consultancy group, suggested hiring a manager to help firms and the town secure funds for recovery.
“A simple way to address some of the issues that are happening is to hire a recovery fund manager,” Pierson said. Funding sources have to be identified and often require a lot of paperwork. He said, “You need to help businesses secure the money.”
Along with assisting local businesses hit hard by the pandemic, the report also suggests solidifying the village center’s identity through consistent branding, better signage, and conducting a market analysis with an eye for attracting new businesses. Pierson suggested the town hire a graphic design firm, engage local businesses, brainstorm ideas, design print collateral and signageand track results.
“Something like this can really draw the attention of people,” Pierson said. “Is there a way to improve storefronts to be more welcoming and encourage more pedestrian exploration?”
Samahy echoed that sentiment.
“The center is visually undefined,” Samahy said. “People can’t tell when they’re entering and when they’re exiting” the downtown area. “It’s difficult to direct visitors to this area because there’s no clear boundary, there’s no clear ‘there.’”
The connection between bicyclists, walkers, the village center, recreational assets like Sugarloaf and Mount Toby, as well as clusters of businesses, according to Samahy, needs to be stronger. The clustering of businesses and apartment complexes has also worked against defining the village center, a difficulty the committee has put much thought into addressing.
“Our town is made up of these clusters,” said Lorin Starr, chair of the Village Center Committee. “If we get them developed as clusters…we may not become a continuous town.” Starr was also aware of the impact on traffic on the village center, which was a significant element of OverUnder’s recommendations.
“We need to get the traffic to slow and that would make the places on 116 more attractive. We did speak to DOT [MassDOT] about the sidewalk project, and we may have had some success,” Starr said.
Starr referred to a sidewalk redesign and improvement project outside the elementary school, which will establish a crosswalk and a flashing safety light. The OverUnder consultants emphasized the positive effect of several relatively easy changes, such as crosswalks, that result in significant improvements.
“Crosswalks, though, are low hanging fruit,” Samahy said. “You want to slow people down well before they reach the intersection. You also want to create a visual buffer zone, plantings, whatnot, between the road and pedestrians.”
According to Samahy, the 50 mile-per-hour speed limit on the approach from the direction of Sugarloaf, across the bridge over the Connecticut River, was excessive. He recommended a wider pedestrian walkway on the bridge, a bed of flowers between the walkway and road and new paint for roadway markings.
At the intersection of Routes 116 and 47, the report details similar measures. Samahy recommended repainting the curving corner boundaries of walkways, replacing the stone crosswalks with brick crossings and installing flower planters in front of businesses and along the lanes of foot traffic. Combined with attractive signage and the beautification of storefronts, the village center may become the glue at the center of a recreational path, a figure eight of almost a mile-and-a-half.
“Create connections to surrounding natural resources and trails, Mt. Toby and Mount Sugarloaf, or a loop connecting existing paths. You can almost create a figure eight now,” Samahy said. He acknowledged that discussions with landowners may be necessary, and there are missing pieces near the river bank, especially behind the Blue Heron Restaurant.
He said, “If you are able to create a boardwalk through that space you could finish that loop…We know this may not happen tomorrow. We know there are obstacles to it, but we do know it’s a fantastic idea.”
Zoning changes were discussed by the consultants as a tool to attract new businesses and revitalize the village center. Proper zoning will attract the desired types of businesses, restaurants and shops, and lead to slower traffic and more visitors to multiple attractions. Samahy noted that a gazebo for staging entertainments would add to the drawing power of the area.
Events like Mike’s Maze are also strong drawing cards.
“When we met last there was an interesting discussion about a race from Mount Toby to Sugarloaf,” Samahy said. “These temporary events transform how we use our downtowns. They may be silly, but they offer powerful ways to see the possibilities for change.”
Change isn’t cheap. The good news Samahy relayed to the committee is that the commonwealth has made money available to towns, like Sunderland, to make improvements and speed the recovery from the impact of COVID-19 on businesses and residents.
“The commonwealth has already moved ahead on the grant opportunities,” Samahy said. While 125 communities took advantage of the Rapid Recovery program, there should be funds available for Sunderland and other smaller towns. “There’s a couple million dollars, statewide.”
Town Administrator Geoffrey Kravitz wrapped up the discussion by observing that Sunderland hasn’t worked with Montague or Leverett, to the north, to better the flow of traffic through the corridor and the region. He also cited Erving as a town that has addressed difficulties with a numbered state highway bisecting its downtown, and their success in creating an attractive and vibrant downtown area is encouraging.
“We have been looking to other communities too,” Kravitz said. “We can’t do this alone.”