Downtown development favored over Exit 7 in Town Plan

The development of the area surrounding Exit 7 of Interstate 91 should not come at the expense of downtown Springfield, the Select Board decided Monday.

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Photo by Len Emery Existing development at Exit 7 of Interstate 91 in Springfield includes Holiday Inn Express. Published March 16, 2016 in the Rutland Herald Downtown development favored over Exit 7 in Town Plan By Susan Smallheer SPRINGFIELD — The development of the area surrounding Exit 7 of Interstate 91 should not come at the expense of downtown Springfield, the Select Board decided Monday. While there is no specific project or plan for the area at Exit 7, the Select Board clarified language Monday night that continued to put a priority on the downtown area. The decision came as the board started its review of the town plan, which is being updated by the Springfield Planning Commission, chapter by chapter. Town Manager Tom Yennerell had warned that some of the language in the proposed plan would set up a discriminatory practice by denying a new business at Exit 7 in order to protect a business in the downtown area, which is about three miles away. But that is what the town wants to do, several board members and Zoning Administrator Bill Kearns said. The town wants to strengthen and preserve its downtown, they said. Select Board Chairman Kristi Morris said that the town government had often been accused of what he called “quotas,” and protecting existing business at the expense of new business. “This is not our downtown plan, this is our town plan,” Morris said. “At the Exit 7 interchange, prohibit the expansion of new businesses adjacent to the interchange, and allow for the expansion of existing businesses to uses that will not compete with businesses in the downtown,” one of the objectives stated. The town currently has a special Exit 7 zoning district. The state does not encourage development along the interstate corridor, said Walter Clark, a Planning Commission member. Only businesses targeted to the traveling public would be welcome near the interstate. “You don’t want to develop East Springfield or West Charlestown?” Morris said at one point. Kearns said that at one time, the owner of the McDonald’s in Springfield wanted to build another McDonald’s out by the interstate, but the size of the parcel was too small. “I’ve heard complaints in the community that there’s a gentleman’s agreement not to have another McDonald’s, or another eatery close to the interstate,” she said, adding that new business at Exit 7 “would be more positive than negative to the community.” Other issues the board wrangled with included whether to encourage only new “market-rate” apartments, and essentially put the brakes on any project of low-income housing. Kearns noted that at one point the town plan included an outright ban on any new subsidized housing until other surrounding communities picked up the slack and offered subsidized housing. “We’ve taken that out,” Kearns said. A suggestion by Selectman George McNaughton — that a chapter on health be included in the planning document — met with resistance by Kearns and a Planning Commission member. Both said the planners did not have the expertise to write about health or medical planning issues. But Selectwoman Stephanie Thompson urged Kearns and Clark to include something and to ask Springfield Medical Care Systems, the parent organization of Springfield Hospital, to help write it. “A simple paragraph,” she said. “I’d like to see something.” On a 3-2 vote, with Morris and Selectman Peter MacGillivray opposed, the board voted in favor of a health chapter. “I don’t support it. Clearly the Planning Commission is uncomfortable with it,” MacGillivray said. http://www.vermonttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/RH/20160316/NEWS02/160319658 http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20160316/NEWS02/160319658