Williamstown Selectmen Discuss Parking Woes on South Street
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Board of Selectmen on Monday heard concerns from a South Street resident about overflow parking from the Clark Art Museum.
The museum, located on South Street, had one of its most successful summers ever in 2015 with an exhibit by Van Gogh and a visit from "Whistler's Mother."
But many of those visitors ended up parking on South Street, particularly in August, when it was routine to see cars lining the street from the Field Park rotary to the Buxton School.
"I realize there are few residences left on South Street, but we do exist," Elizabeth McGowan told the board.
"I was jogging one day, and I took my life in my hands to go down South Street to Gale Road."
McGowan raised the issue during the board's discussion of plans to extend Walden Street from Spring Street through to South Street.
Town officials have said the extension will help create a connection between the town's largest tourist attraction, the Clark, and the downtown business district.
McGowan, the chairwoman of the Planning Board, said the town needs a plan to handle high parking demands during the summer season. She specifically recommended a parking deck on the former town garage site on Water Street.
Town Manager Jason Hoch and board members sought to allay her fears that this summer's excessive parking load on South Street will be repeated.
"I've been having fairly lengthy and intense conversation with colleagues at the Clark," said Chairwoman Jane Patton, who lives on Gale Road, which South Street becomes south of the Clark.
"This [attendance spike] was the epitome of a perfect storm — in the right way. I have made it very clear that if they have the slightest inclination that any summer is going to approach anything near the same volume, there needs to be a plan in place."
McGowan replied that the plan needs to come from the town, not just the art museum.
"The Clark and the town, working together, will have a plan to mitigate the problems we had this summer," Patton said.
CAElizabeth McGowan of South Street addresses the Board of Selectmen about heavy use of the road by visitors to the Clark Art Museum.
Right now, the college is consulting the town to make sure the road it constructs will be acceptable to the town when that transfer is made.
The South-Hoxsey connector will help with Williams' construction of its new science center, allowing construction vehicles to access that property without driving down Spring Street.
As part of Walden Street's extension, Hoch said, it is expected the street will be converted back to a two-way road. On Monday, he asked the board if it had any objections to that conversion. None were raised.
In other business on Monday, Hoch reported that the town has scheduled an informational session about plans to develop affordable housing at the former Photech Mill site on Cole Avenue.
Technically, the meeting is a hearing that needs to be held as part of an U.S. Environmental Protection Agency "brown fields" grant application process. The town is seeking grant money to help clean up contamination on the site.
"Realistically, the majority of the questions will be about the development design rather than the cleanup," Hoch said.
With that in mind, he asked the site's developers, the Women's Institute for Housing and Economic Development in Boston and Berkshire Housing Development Corp., to come to the Dec. 17 meeting prepared to talk about their preliminary concepts for the site. Last year, the Board of Selectmen voted to accept a proposal from the Women's Institute and BHDC to build housing at the town-owned site.
The chairman of the Spruces Land Reuse Committee told the board that his group plans to seek town Community Preservation Act funds in 2016 to support the development of plans to reuse the soon-to-be-closed mobile home park.
Hoch reminded the board and its television viewing audience that the Community Preservation Committee will hold an informational meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 2; the deadline for CPA funding applications is Dec. 18.
Tags: affordable housing, Clark Art, roads, Spruces,
