Ideas continue to flow back and forth between the Chelsea Downtown Development Authority board and a 17-member citizen’s committee, as plans are discussed to determine the best uses for community events in the Palmer parking lot.
On Thursday, Dec. 5, DDA and committee members took an early morning walking tour of the parking lot to visualize potential plans for traffic flow, parking spaces, a pavilion structure, farmers’ market stalls and green space in the site.
City staff had previously marked off potential spots for some of the amenities that are under consideration for the parking lot.
Among the citizen’s committee top choices are restrooms, covered parking, green space, lawn/picnic area, covered patio/stage, a visually appealing entrance and a jogging path.
Ashley Miller-Helmholdt, the farmers’ market manager, with input from the market vendors, suggested 25 covered parking spaces that could be used for vendors on market days.
According to a poll of the committee in which 14 of the 17 people responded, Charlie Taylor, who spoke for the group, said that restrooms, parking, 1/3 of the space designated as green space, lawn and picnic area and covered patio, stage and sidewalk received about the same high priority.
Mark Heydlauff reminded the committee members that planning for the parking lot was to “create a wonderful space for the downtown for all public events,” and although there’s a desire to get the farmers’ market downtown, the space should also accommodate other public events such as art shows.
Since there is a consensus to have traffic enter and exit from one access point, (across from Orchard Street), the next step is for city staff to determine if that’s a feasible solution to traffic flow. Once that’s determined the DDA can begin to move forward with other ideas for the space.
It’s expected that when the DDA meets in two weeks, that Christine Linfield, the city engineer, will provide drawings for traffic flow that meets the city’s engineering codes.
The DDA has been beating the “not enough parking near downtown” drum for years. I hope significant parking space is left in this parking lot to address the problem they have repeatedly identified. And, no historic buildings will need to be demolished to create more space for parking!