GREENFIELD — Questioning the authority the City Council has to govern state land in reference to a decision to allow homeless people to camp at Wedgewood Gardens, the Conservation Commission says there are additional rules when it comes to the place that used to be a trailer park.
The rules, according to the Conservation Commission, haven’t changed: If people want to camp on Wedgewood Gardens, they will have to come before the commission for written permission and get police approval.
The commission decided Tuesday night that it will also look to put up a sign on the grounds on Kimball Drive, off of Colrain Street. The signs will state it is a conservation land.
Conservation land is governed by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, and is overseen locally by the commission, which is not directly under the jurisdiction of the City Council, as explained by Greenfield’s Conservation Agent Sarah Brodeur.
The conversation comes after a vote at the Aug. 2 City Council meeting that stated the homeless on the Greenfield Common could camp at Wedgewood Gardens without the time limits that had been enforced when it was a mobile home park. The proposal was made by City Councilor Isaac Mass. At the same meeting, Conservation Commission Chairman John Griffin advised against a motion that would do such.
“When I heard they made that, I was like, how can they do that? That’s not their jurisdiction,” Commission member Erika LaForme said.
The measure was passed by the council with wording that Griffin said Monday was “slightly confusing.”
Mayor William Martin has said he didn’t think the proposal would meet city and state codes.
The city is running out of proposed options if it wants to have a place for the homeless to go after the Board of Health’s Aug. 20 deadline goes into effect in now less than a week.
On Monday night, M.J. Adams, the city’s community development administrator, told the Human Rights Commission the High Street shelter, which used to be run by Clinical & Support Options, would not be ready to open its doors by the end of the month like Martin had suggested. She said the shelter will likely open around wintertime.
Brodeur and the commission were concerned about the ability to protect the conservation land, especially considering the Board of Health has stated it has worried about the health conditions of the Greenfield Common, where some homeless people have been staying since July.
The commission also expressed concern for the people who might try to reside on a flood plain. “It’s an unsafe place for people to be permanently housed,” Vice Chairwoman Rachel Lindsay said, questioning what might happen if somebody’s tent or somebody was to be washed away into the river overnight.
“Last thing the town needs or the Conservation Commission needs is to be liable for anything,” Brodeur said.
The commission also wondered why this space would be suggested by the city when there are other parks around that aren’t protected lands.
If people start camping out on Wedgewood Gardens, Griffin said he anticipates calling an emergency meeting to address the next steps, including giving people a space to at least request to sleep there overnight.
“We’re not changing the rules,” Lindsay said. “We’re just saying there’s a path to do this.”
You can reach
Joshua Solomon at:
jsolomon@recorder.com
413-772-0261, ext. 264