Committee Approves Land Use, Economic Development Move

Land use departments including engineering, planning and zoning, building and the economic development office appear to be heading over to the North Center School based on a recommendation from the facility use committee Thursday night.

The North Center School Facility Use Committee voted 5-2 to approve the recommendation despite contentious opposition from committee members Paul Chaplinsky Jr. and Stephen Kalkowski.

“I don’t know what to say except until today we had no data at all regarding foot traffic,” Chaplinsky said. “A study shows 30 percent of people will walk away from going downtown with the plan presented and it will impact business owners.”

In three meetings, Chaplinsky and Kalkowski have been vocal about moving away from the downtown area, even a quarter mile, for fear that it will have negative affects on the decade-long Renaissance project that has brought life to a once baron district.

Citing a conversation with Betsey Krumholz, general manager of the Planning Commissioners Journal, and studies from the journal in 2001 and 2003, Chaplinsky dominated the discussions Thursday, pleading that the committee take the time to study the affects further.

Krumholz said in an email response to Chaplinsky that in Burlington, Vt., similar discussions took several months to resolve and studies showed moving land use departments would negatively impact downtown foot traffic.

Due to this Chaplinsky presented a motion to table the vote, suggesting the committee recommend taking “a few months” to conduct studies, doing so with the assistance of college students he said would have loved to write papers in partnership with the town.

The motion failed when no one seconded it.

“In our previous meetings, we did not properly focus externally on our customers. We want to focus on economic development and this is counterproductive,” Chaplinsky said. “The business owners have spoken and this is not what they want.”

Although Chaplinsky dominated the discussion, his points were not supported by others on the committee who said the study – an informal one taken of 145 visitors to various town departments over four days – showed there would be little affect on the downtown.

Ex-officio member Joseph V. Erardi Jr., School Superintendent, said when you look at the math, a 30 percent reduction in foot traffic amounts to less than a dozen people per day.

Erardi said the Board of Education offices would be located much closer to the center and would generate additional traffic with many of the 50 cars per day that stop by the school administrative offices now more likely to visit the downtown area.

Committee members Dawn Miceli and Edward Pocock Jr. supported Erardi and each said the plan maximizes space use while also keeping essential other essential departments downtown.

Miceli said many of those visiting planning are business oriented and are not as likely to stop downtown because they are filing applications and receiving permits then returning to work.

“The anchor of town hall will still be downtown; it’s still here,” he said. “We are not moving the library or town hall. We are moving departments and these are departments that when all is said and done will be more spacious and more aesthetically pleasing. These departments will be more customer friendly.”