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Council continues two proposed zoning changes
Date: 10/26/2011
By Debbie Gardner
Assistant Editor
WEST SPRINGFIELD — A zoning change was the issue for many residents whoattended the Oct. 18 City Council meeting, but it wasn’t the one regarding home-based businesses.
Only two residents– Timothy Mcmahon of Forest Glen Road and Irene Schuh of Kings Highway — spoke to the proposed zoning amendment that would allow for a new use category of home occupations — such as plumbers, electricians, carpenters and landscapers — in residential zoning districts by special permit process.
However, more than two dozen residents waited patiently for an opportunity — that nearly never came — to address the council about a long-delayed request to change the zoning laws affecting parking on Lathrop Street, adjacent to the First Congregational Church.
The proposed home occupations zoning amendment was first introduced at the Oct. 5 Planning Board meeting by resident and landscaper Joseph DuMont of Amostown Road. The council meeting was the first reading of the proposed amendment, which was not recommended by the Planning Board by a vote of 5-0.
Both Mcmahon and Schuh echoed the sentiments of the residents who had spoken against the proposed amendment at the Planning Board, citing safety concerns, eyesores, potential reductions in property values, and the possibility of increased noise and traffic congestion if a business such as a landscaper had employees reporting to work at their home-based business.
Mcmahon also pointed out that ‘Mr. DuMont has not proposed what the cost of this will be to the town,” in regards to record-keeping to insure compliance, and enforcement if individuals do not conform to the new ruling. Schuh called the proposed amendment “a half-baked measure that has not been thought through … when you put commercial equipment in a residential area you get an industrial area.”
By a vote of 8-0, the council continued the public hearing on the home occupation amendment to its Nov. 2 meeting.
Town Council President Kathleen Bourque was at first reluctant to address the Lathrop Street parking issue, citing the absence of Councilor Lida Powell, who heads the body’s Traffic and Safety Committee. Councilor Angus Rushlow convinced her to address the issue, noting, “These people have been waiting six months to have something done.”
He also noted that the church and its parishioners “had no problems with parking” until zoning was amended in that neighborhood.
At issue is a zoning change passed in December of 2009 that prohibited parking on the church side of the [one-way] street, forcing parishioners who drive to services to exit their cars against the curb.
The location of trees and utility poles, as well as snow banks in the winter makes this difficult, especially for older drivers. The amended parking also requires parents whose children attend the Make Way for Ducklings Nursery School and Kindergarten, which is housed at the church, to frequently take their small children out of the car on the traffic side and cross the street with them to enter the school.
According to materials reviewed by councilors during the meeting, the zoning change to Lathrop and two neighboring streets was prompted by the inability of an ambulance to traverse one of the streets during an emergency call because of parking on both sides of the street.
Councilor Brian Griffin said the Traffic and Safety Committee had reviewed the proposed reversal of the zoning change to allow parking on the church side of the street at its last meeting, and voted 4-0 not to recommend it. Councilor Gerald B. Matthews, who is also a candidate for mayor, noted that the initial zoning change was made “as a matter of safety” and the decision based on “information from other departments” including reports from the Police and Fire Departments as well as the Department of Public Works.
Bourque asked the council to suspend the rules and allow First Congregational Church spokes-person Latimier Eddy to address the body. He cited materials in original documents regarding the parking change, noting, “The Department of Public Works was in favor of leaving Lathrop Street the way it was.”
He also reminded the council that the church had submitted a petition in April, signed by 130 people, requesting a zoning change, and five and a half months later, still had not “seen a report or any correspondence” regarding the issue.
“If we do not get some help from the City Council, it may be dealing with a vacant building and the maintenance of the historic cemetery next door,” Eddy said.
He then asked the council to “correct [its mistake] as quickly as possible.”
Bourque, who temporarily turned the council chair over to Vice President John Sweeney, reminded Eddy that the council had agreed to put off a review of the church’s request at an earlier meeting because he was out of town. She added that she was reluctant to take a vote on the amendment without “Councilor Powell, who is chair of the Traffic and Safety committee, here.” Matthews added that, based on the information he had at hand, he would have to vote against the change that evening. The council voted 8-0 to continue the measure to the next meeting.
Following the meeting, a disgruntled parishioner told Reminder Publications “We have been here for eight months, attending one meeting or another [about this issue]. Why can’t they make a decision?”
