AMHERST — A prime parking lot in downtown Amherst will either be removed entirely or shrunk in size when the North Common in front of Town Hall is renovated.
Afters several years of planning, presentations and discussions, the Town Council is likely to vote later this month on the project that Town Manager Paul Bockelman said could eliminate more than half of the 32 parking spaces, under one scenario, or eliminate parking from the site entirely.
Bockelman said the vote at the March 22 meeting would be for plans that include a landscaped plaza and significantly more green space, even if 22 parking spaces remain. The project could range in cost from $1.5 million to $1.9 million and depends on the infusion of $500,000 from the Community Preservation Act account.
Under the proposals, there would also be changes to Boltwood Avenue in front of Town Hall and Grace Episcopal Church that would make the street one-way south from Main Street. There are also various ways of adding more parking should the spaces in the Main Street parking lot go away.
The council’s Town Services and Outreach Committee, which in January reviewed plans developed by Weston & Sampson of Rocky Hill, Connecticut and the town’s Department of Public Works, is not making a recommendation on the exact plan to pursue because it couldn’t reach a consensus.
Before the vote, the Amherst Business Improvement District completed a survey of businesses near the parking lot on Main, Amity and South Pleasant streets, gathering their thoughts on the restoration. Amherst Business Improvement District Executive Director Gabrielle Gould wrote in a letter that the restoration is important “for the health of our community and to the post COVID-19 economic success of our small businesses. The deterioration over the years has culminated in what we feel is an unsafe eyesore in the heart of our downtown.”
But for 63% of the 27 businesses that responded to the survey, parking should remain, with the remainder preferring no parking on the North Common, but also explaining that the town should do something to encourage space for art and music and add tables for outdoor dining.
“The no parking is more aesthetically pleasing, but the lack of parking concerns me as a business owner,” wrote Rachael Moran, owner of Pasta e Basta restaurant at 26 Main St.
Similar sentiment came from Lindsey Matarazzo, owner of Russell’s Liquors at 18 Main St.
“People don’t want to fight to find parking and I don’t think they will park in a garage and come to Russell’s,” Matarazzo wrote.
Joyce Austin of J. Austin Jewelers, 31 South Pleasant St., though wanted parking removed. “It is welcoming and far more attractive without automobiles taking up spaces,” Austin wrote.
The plans have also won support from the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce. John Page, its marketing and membership manager, wrote last fall that, “the revitalization of the North Common and Main Street lot will contribute to a dynamic downtown, attracting visitors, patrons, and permanent residents alike.”