Here is a complete blip.tv video of the 8/12/10 meeting of Northampton’s Planning Board. The board approved a change to View Avenue so that a neighbor to the proposed Kohl Construction condo development can still park two cars on View while allowing more room for traffic (see details in PDF, 2.8MB). The overall fate of the development is still on hold pending the resolution of a lawsuit in Land Court.
The board conducted an extended discussion of easing permitting requirements for home offices. Most members of the board were amenable to this, but Frandy Johnson expressed concern about limiting opportunities for neighbors and the public to express their opinions on permits.
Towards the end of the meeting (jump to 01:00:32 on the video), board chair Stephen Gilson and Senior Land Use Planner Carolyn Misch disclose that Northampton Soccer recently applied to the Building Commissioner to renew their use of the fields at the Oxbow Marina. However, the Western United Football Club will not be returning.
The entire video is 1 hour 3 minutes long and was recorded by Adam Cohen.
See also:
Forbes.com: “Mass Transit: The Great Train Robbery” (8/9/10)
If reducing energy use and carbon emissions remains the goal, much more emphasis should be placed as well on telecommuting. In many cities that have invested heavily in rail transit–Dallas, Denver and Salt Lake City, for example–the percentage of people working from home is now markedly larger than those taking any form of mass transit. Since the approval of the Dallas light rail system in the 1980s, for example, the transit share of work trips has dropped from 4.3% to 2.1%; the work-at-home share has grown from 2.3% to 4.3%.
Video: June 26, 2008 Planning Board Meeting Discusses Hospital Hill, Citizens’ Advisory Committee, Northampton Soccer Club
51:54-58:00
Discussion of soccer teams’ compliance with parking and traffic conditions at the Oxbow
- “I want to be able to hear the soccer club defend themselves.”
- “I get the impression we came down on the soccer club like a ton of bricks, and…they didn’t know about the hearing… At least they should have their day in court, so to speak.”
- “…I think the Northampton Soccer Club is doing a good job, Western United not so much.”
Video: Planning Board Sharpens Up Parking Recommendations for Oxbow Soccer Fields (5/9/08)
Northampton’s Planning Board took 30 minutes on May 8 to discuss issues with the implementation of a parking and traffic plan worked out last year for the soccer fields at the Oxbow. The board seeks heavier usage of an auxiliary parking lot to reduce traffic on Island Road.
Gazette: “Board presses carpooling to Oxbow soccer fields” (5/9/08)
…On Thursday, Planning Board members said the two soccer organizations that use the fields at the Oxbow Marina – Northampton Soccer Club and Western United Football Club – must make a better effort to reduce traffic along Island Road. Their recommendation to Building Commissioner Anthony Patillo states that 50 percent of all cars must be parked at auxiliary lot and that members from both organizations need to take responsibility in accomplishing the task.
According to the recommendation, the Planning Board expects full compliance from both organizations within a month. If they are not fully compliant in that time frame, the special permit granted last summer by the board could be withdrawn…
Gazette: “Soccer at Oxbow hits snag” (5/8/08)
…One of the conditions set by the Planning Board when it approved a three-year special permit last July calls for the soccer leagues that use the fields at the end of Island Road to reduce traffic on the residential street. Representatives of Western United Soccer and Northampton Soccer Club were told to reduce traffic by carpooling and shuttling families from a parking area on Route 5 to the fields…