I’d like to respond to the Al Norman’s Sept. 3 column concerning the referendum on the fate of the Hope Street Parking Lot [“The Greenfield parking lot that turned into a referendum“].
Norman is opposed to the sale of the Hope Street parking lot. I think the city is doing the right thing by putting the lot up for sale.
Norman also is opposed to the building of more housing in Greenfield — affordable or not. In this he joins John Merrigan, the author of the referendum petition. In fact, affordable does not mean subsidized housing for the poor. The income level to qualify for affordable housing in Franklin County is pretty much equal to the average income in our county. Most of us would qualify.
There is no restriction on the sale of the property that it must be for affordable housing. However the city has to be able to enter into discussions with developers in order to develop the lot. The city will look for proposals from developers to look at what is best suited for the property.
We don’t yet know the wording of the proposed referendum, but I believe it will call for citizen input as to what people want to see the lot used for. This will definitely delay
any sale of the property if we all have to agree on its purpose and then have no idea
if any developer would be interested. So its sale and development would be postponed for as long as it takes to agree on the purpose and then find a buyer. I would urge people to vote for the sale of the property.
Certainly we don’t need a parking lot next to a parking garage.
Judith Atkins
Greenfield