GREENFIELD — In an effort to reverse City Council’s July decision to declare the parking lot at 53 Hope St. as surplus and to seek a developer for the site, Franklin County Register of Probate John Merrigan has completed his petition to have voters weigh in on the matter when casting their ballots in November.
Merrigan joined resident Beth Lorenz at City Clerk Kathy Scott’s office Thursday afternoon to submit his petition — a roughly 20-page stack of papers containing more than 730 signatures collected by a team of canvassers over the course of nine days. Merrigan, on Friday, said he had collected an additional two signature sheets, bringing the total to 780 signatures.
“The urbanization of Greenfield in our downtown needs to stop, and I feel this measure will begin that process,” Merrigan said. “It’s been build higher, build bigger, build more. …
We’re going to lose out on our chance to have a vibrant retail community if we’re filling every nook and cranny downtown with affordable housing. This measure, I believe, will start that process to send a message to our leaders that our residents won’t tolerate this.”
On July 16, City Council voted 10-1 to declare the Hope Street parking lot as surplus and draft a request for proposals seeking a developer to build housing on the site. The council’s decision, though nearly unanimous, followed roughly an hour of public comment in which proponents of the project cited a growing need for housing, while opponents argued that the city lacks the necessary resources to accommodate a housing structure in the area.
Lorenz, speaking outside City Hall, expressed concerns that the city’s sewer system and other utilities would not be able to accommodate additional housing. She said she believed the city “put the cart before the horse” by approving the property’s declaration as surplus without conducting a feasibility study.
While canvassing, Lorenz said she encountered only two residents who told her they did not wish to sign anything. She added that she wished to bring the petition to the Nov. 4 ballot because she believes the decision should be made by voters.
“I’ve been here 41 years and there’s certain motivators that have changed. It’s important to try to slow down a process, to make sure you’re covering all the bases and you’re not taking advantage or disadvantage of the property that you have or the land space that the city owns,” Lorenz said. “Too many bad choices can be made easily and you can’t recover.”
Scott said Friday that her office is in the process of certifying the signatures to ensure that the referendum received its required 430 signatures from registered voters.
Scott also noted she needs to consult the city’s attorney to ensure the correct legal procedures, in accordance with the city charter, are being followed.
In response to the petition, Community and Economic Development Director Amy Cahillane, who has been working on the Hope Street lot’s planned sale and development, explained that this was “the opposite of a rush job,” as the city had been working on plans to sell the property to a developer for years.
Cahillane also remarked in an interview earlier this month that the lot’s RFP will not limit its development to affordable housing. She noted that the property could just as easily be developed into a mixed-use structure with both commercial and residential units.
“We are not setting any parameters around any sort of income restriction for the housing that we hope to go in this lot. I think market-rate housing would be wonderful at this lot,” Cahillane said. “It’s a really important, unique, wonderful lot in the middle of downtown, and I want to see it live its best life.”