Vote for housing and ‘No’ on Question 1
A parking lot? Seriously? Why would anyone want to return the Hope Street lot to parking? Perpetuating a sea of asphalt for the sake of maybe 100 empty cars during the day makes no sense. At least suggest a park or a playground or pickleball courts!
More than any other possible use, we need additional housing in Greenfield, and that lot is a perfect place to build an apartment building for 50 units or more. It is within walking distance of downtown and it borders an attractive residential area. It is ideal for a densely packed apartment building, hopefully with some site amenities and tasteful architecture.
It will help lower taxes. Whether affordable or market rate, a multi-unit apartment building will likely result in a building appraised at over $10 million dollars, more than 50 times what the empty lot is appraised at currently ($210,000). Given that the lot is not tax paying currently, it will be a boost to the tax base.
The City Council was doing their job when they voted 10-1 to surplus that parcel and put it out to bid for developers. There was plenty of citizen involvement prior to that vote. Let’s support our representative democracy and confirm their votes to move Greenfield forward and develop the Hope Street lot. Vote ‘No’ on Question 1.
Margo Jones
Greenfield