Yet another building in downtown Springfield could be rehabilitated as affordable housing and retail space... Though no vote was taken, the Development Review Board told E.J. Cully, owner of the Woolson Block, he needs a plan for parking before his proposal can be approved.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
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SPRINGFIELD -- Yet another building in downtown Springfield could be rehabilitated as affordable housing and retail space, but its owner will be responsible for providing enough parking spaces for tenants.
ReplyDeleteThough no vote was taken, the Development Review Board told E.J. Cully, owner of the Woolson Block, he needs a plan for parking before his proposal can be approved.
"If you give me time to get the spots, I'll do my best to get them," he said.
Before the meeting, the DRB conducted a site visit of the Woolson Block. Cully purchased the building in June with plans to convert the two top floors into 18 condominums and provide seven street-level retail spaces. In the public hearing that followed at the Springfield Town Offices, members raised concerns about the scarcity of parking spaces in the area surrounding the building.
"There was a project in town that was held up for this same reason," said board member Ted Reeves, referring to the Ellis Block, located across Main Street from the Woolson Block, where a fire caused significant damage. "I'm very concerned about setting a precedent that may come back to bite not just the board, but the town as a whole."
Springfield Zoning Administrator Bill Kearns admitted that an inadequate number of parking spaces continues to hurt downtown, but said that large-scale projects such as the Woolson Block must be prepared to tackle the issue.
"The town will have to address public parking at some point," he said. "For now, we need to require a project such as this to have a minimal amount of parking."
Cully said that he could secure at least five tenant parking spaces on Mineral Street behind the building, while commercial tenants would continue to park in the four-hour public spaces as they have always done.
"Buyer beware," he said. "I can't sell someone a spot if I don't have it."
Board chairman Keith Stern suggested that Cully ought to provide both commercial and residential tenants of the block with a form saying that they are responsible for their own parking, an idea to which Cully did not object.
After the meeting, however, Cully admitted that he'd like to see the town construct a parking garage to accommodate both visitors and residents.
"Between my building and the Ellis Block, downtown living is going to come up," he said. "It's a 24-hour building. People live there and work there."
By Katie Beth Ryan, Staff Writer
Eagle-Times