Being a homeowner on Prospect Avenue, I believe the publicly owned parking lot should be returned to the original parking area (as promised) for the use of the surrounding neighborhood and businesses. This area does not have enough parking and the elderly/handicap need to have safe/convenient parking when using these buildings. It’s been held hostage for to long. I’ve been told there’s not enough money to maintain it but with a kiosk and charging station for electric cars powered by solar, this would help with expenses.

People should know the truth: when the parking map was created our street wasn’t even included. They also rezoned which changed every household/residence from having two vehicles to having only one ( which is all that is required). Looks good on paper but it’s not reality. Our surrounding streets have “Resident parking only permit required “signs up because non-residents’ vehicles are constantly parking on our side streets and not in the parking garage which becomes a safety issue for us (vehicles park too close to corners). Imagine needing a permit to park in front of your own home. The referendum question isn’t really about any kind of housing, it’s about what developers’ profit margins will be to build here. The mayor has now switched to talking about mostly market rate housing for people at the top of the market. Goodbye “affordable “ housing.

Greenfield already has 8,100 dwelling units, and many housing projects have been upgraded, with more in the pipeline. We shouldn’t be selling off Greenfield owned assets to a private developer in exchange for housing. This sale won’t necessarily benefit the people that actually need it. There hasn’t been much transparency about the Hope Street project at all. Even by selling it to a private developer Greenfield will still be responsible for maintaining the sewers, water, sidewalks, plus the use of fire, police, and emergency response which will impact us as taxpayers. Why hasn’t the city made its request for proposals public? Why didn’t the motion to sell the land say nothing about “housing “ in it? This looks like another bad land deal by the city in the making. This sale will only benefit the buyer/developer.

Greenfield already strains to maintain this area of the city. Our dead-end street has had many issues consisting of sewer backups,water contamination which has blocked our water flow (many homeowners installed our own main line water filters ). We’ve asked for sidewalks for more than 11 years, always being told we’re on a list (ours have large chunks missing, tree roots pushing up, and in some places can no longer be safely shoveled or snow-blown). This area can not handle more housing. The state offered to give the city the Armory building assessed at $400,000 but the city said it had too many projects going on to take on more. We rejected the gift, which we could have sold, and now the city wants to sell off the lot which will impact the Armory projects parking needs for housing, etc. in the future.

Greenfield should focus on the issues at hand instead of creating new ones. We should be finding ways to bring in new businesses and revitalizing Main Street. Have you been down Main Street lately? Why are we paying for two police stations? I believe this Hope Street lot is vital for this area of Greenfield. Selling this lot will not fix the debt of Greenfield, but hurt us in the long run. For those who are thinking about voting “No,” but don’t live in the area and won’t be directly affected, think about if this was your neighborhood. We have no idea what the city will accept for an offer. Bring Greenfield back, don’t sell it off. I ask Greenfield residents when voting on Nov. 4: Are you willing to sell off more of Greenfield without knowing how it will affect your tax bill?   

Eva Carle lives in Greenfield.