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Date: 10/25/2022
CHESTERFIELD – Emily Wright, landscape architect, tried to stay on message about community desires for the 6 North Road property. Resident Jonathon Parrott had concerns about the back story.
“I don’t think the town has decided that that is where the safety complex is going,” Parrott said.
Other residents voiced concerns about assumptions town officials may have about the plot in the middle of Chesterfield. The 11-acre parcel is central to the residential district, any changes will affect the character of the town center, and the town has a number of significant needs. Which needs, if any, that will be addressed on the property were not the intended subject of the visioning session.
Trish Colson-Montgomery, vice chair of the Select Board, reassured the around 20 residents gathered in the Community Center that Wright, a principal of Wright Ostermier Landscape Architects (WOLA), was there to help them figure out what residents wanted on the acreage, if anything, and what’s possible.
“There is no plan,” Colson-Montgomery said. “They have not decided that anything is going on that site. That’s part of this process and we certainly don’t have any agenda as to what’s first, what’s second. No.”
Wright offered an overview of the property that has features that may make it difficult to site a municipal project. About 40 percent of the plot, furthest from Main Road, is on a high water table and wet. Another 10 percent of the property, along the northern and middle edge of the footage, is actual wetlands. A structure also stands on the property, which may or may not need to be razed, depending on the use. Adding more limits, the property has a narrow access lane to Main Road. The land also slopes from south to north.
That slope of the land will further complicate efforts to build on the site. Wright’s visual displays also show setbacks established to protect the privacy of nearby homeowners. The setbacks further stunt the footage available for development, but will not affect other uses like walking trails and recreational spaces.
Wright commented that the property is “right smack dab in the middle of town” and “is in a really special place”. Water on the property drains into two watersheds, with lovely valleys to either side. The landscape designer also noted the architecture and layout of the town suggests it was built during the era of horse-drawn carriages, a characteristic that should be preserved, if not accentuated.
Wright asked residents and officials four questions: “what do they like and dislike about the property today? What worried them about the future of the property and what would they like to see?” She also distributed a page of pictures of features and improvements for a variety of uses, recreational, environmental and municipal, the land may be adapted for. Another option is to leave the land alone.
“We’re looking for your feedback so that we can use that information, our understanding of the site, and our understanding of what you would like to see, to develop a master plan for that property,” Wright said.
“The master plan for that property,” Denise Coremier, a South Street resident, asked. “Do we have a master site plan for the rest of town, going to [the] Davenport [site], so we can look at the whole thing?”
Discussion ventured onto the Davenport property, a former school housing the town offices, located at 422 Main Rd. Colson-Montgomery said the building has many problems that would have to be dealt with if the public safety complex were to be built there. The town’s longstanding need for a new public safety complex again influenced the discussion. Other residents voiced other uses.
“I would love to see half an acre of it connected to this property,” said Leslie Kellog of Sugar Hill Road. “Whenever there’s a large gathering here, there’s never enough parking.”
“I’d like to stick to the original plan, that we sell it,” said Ron Tacliello, a Main Road resident.
Fred Drake of Bryant Street suggested a site walk. “There’s a lot of people who haven’t been out there in a while and haven’t seen it lately,” Drake said.
“Have we thought about senior housing?” asked Winthrop Stone. His comment triggered several nods around the room. “There is no senior housing in town…There’s more seniors in town than when I was a boy.”
Parrott was still concerned the town has not sufficiently weighed its options for the property. He pointed to the chair in front of him.
“That chair has been here 55 years,” he said. “Why are we rushing to do anything?”
Wright’s presentation ended half way through the allotted three hours. She explained that Parrott’s fears were unfounded.
“When we start the site analysis process we like to step back and see the whole context,” Wright said.
“We want to collect some feedback from you, find out what you want to see on the 6 North Rd. project…and what you want to see from us in the future.”
No date for a future meeting was scheduled.