5.00 P.M., SENIOR CENTER

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1 The Ecrence of New England TOWN OF WOODBURY BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE MAIN STREET SOUTH PO Box 369 WOODBURY, CT REGULAR MEETING OF WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 17, 2014, 5.00 P.M., SENIOR CENTER MINUTES Members Present: Joe Donato, John Chamberlain, Ray Manzi, Karen Reddington- Hughes, Bob Clarke, Alex DeSorbo *, Members Absent: Adam Goldberg, Jack Well, Don Murphy, Also Present: Mike Preato, Voices, Scott Freitag, George Hendricks 1. Call to Order: Joe Donato called the meeting to order at 5.06 p.m. 2. Privilege of the Floor: Mr. Freitag, a 30+ year resident, spoke about parking. He noted the town's charm and character. He urged the parking issue to be addressed in a manner consistent with those attributes. He recommended buffer zones between the road and parking areas. He believed that there was room for about 200 spaces. He would be happy to do the leg work and feasibility study. He noted that this could be a revenue generator, and gave the example of West Hartford in front of their library. There was a parking kiosk, thus avoiding the need for meters at individual bays. Mr. Hendricks provided a paper outlining his ideas relating to parking in the areas of the North Green and the Old Town Hall. He noted that the aesthetic loss of green space cannot be offset by the very few extra parking spaces created. He noted that David Newell of C.L. Adams would be prepared to permit parking behind the store, and for the Town Hall, a more difficult location, a similar approach should be made to the LaBonne's Plaza and the Post Office Plaza owners. If a suitable property came on the market in Mountain Road, the Town might buy the property for parking. Uniform, appropriate and easily read municipal signage would be needed. 3. Correspondence: A letter from the Pomperaug Valley Garden Club, signed by thirty of its members, was read into the record. The letter opposes any reduction of the size of the Town's greens to accommodate parking, noting in particular that plantings were often made in memory of Town residents, and should not be moved. 4. Approval of the Minutes: Karen Reddington-Hughes moved the minutes as presented. Second: Bob Clarke. Motion carried Unanimously. 5. Old Business: The Chairman thanked Mr. Freitag and Mr. Hendricks for coming to the Meeting and for their input. Mr. Manzi referred to the input from the Page 1 of 2

2 members of the public and to a letter published in Voices relating to the parking discussions. He explained that BEDC was a forum for ideas. The Committee has no power or authority to do anything but make recommendations to the Board of Selectmen. The Committee noted that the discussions relating to parking were bye products of a discussion of how to persuade visitors to stop in Town and to visit. It noted that what was wanted was parking obvious to visitors. The kind offer from Mr. Newell was noted with pleasure, and Mr. Manzi would follow up with him. The Committee noted that the notion of parking around North Green had been discussed by the Parks and Recreation Commission in The inspection of Cushman Park revealed that it would not be possible to create parking there. The inspection of North Green was not available at the time of the meeting. A suggestion that a trolley between Middle Quarter and the North Green was felt to be impractical, given the traffic on Main Street. Karen Reddington Hughes reported that she would be meeting with Randy Fiveash and Jean Herbert to resolve if possible the problems with the Antiques Web Site. Mr. Manzi noted that events on Town property required the organizers to provide insurance with a minimum of $1 million cover. 6. New Business: The Committee noted that the Calendar on the Town Web Site still listed the meeting times as 4.30 pm. Mr. Chamberlain was requested to ask the Town Clerk to make the necessary change. 7. Adjournment: Proposed by Ray Manzi, Seconded by Bob Clarke. The Meeting adjourned at 6.03 p.m. * Mr. DeSorbo arrived during the "Privilege of the Floor" and left at the end of item, with apologies, due to a conflict. Respectfully submitted 3$1 0.. CA 42.0A John Chamberlain Acting Clerk BEDC Attachments 1. Letter from Pomperaug Valley Garden Club 2. Letter from George Hendricks RECEIVED & FILED IN WOODBURY, CT Page 2 of 2 This 1 day of 0C* a 0 ' o' ioc A m Town Cleric

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5 September 17, 2014 A PLAN FOR VISITOR PARKING IN WOODBURY About 10 years ago, a mature oak tree standing adjacent to the Mitchell Elementary school parking lot was cut down to make way for a reconfigured parking lot. This particular tree was grown as a seedling from the original Connecticut Charter Oak,. It wasn't marked as historic nor important. No questions were asked and no public input was requested nor taken into consideration. I sat under this tree after school as a kid, preferring its shelter to that of the library when I would read my books. I remember the tree well. It was solid and strong and beautiful to my eyes back then. The cherry and crab apple trees in Cushman park are not as grand as the old oak but they are incredibly nice to look at when we visit the post office, especially when they bloom pink early in spring. Cushman Park and the North Green are priceless pause points in a town that doesn't have a lot of open public green space along its main street. I object to the idea of cutting into the parks to create asphalt space for parking. Why do I object? Because the aesthetic loss of the green space cannot be offset by the very few parking spaces you will create. The aesthetics of this town are one of its most important draws for visitors. What then can be done about the given parking problem?

6 PUBLIC / PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP Currently, visitors and townspeople attending events at the Old Town Hall and near the North Green, park along Mountain Road ( as they have for well over a hundred years ) at the post office, La Bonne's parking lot and along the grass at the North Green. 1) A simple resolution to the North Green problem is to reach an agreement with Dave Newell to allow people to park in front of and behind his hardware store right next to the North Green. I spoke with Dave and he agreed to the proposal and said nobody had ever approached him with the idea. Every person parking is a potential customer. The town would have to create a legal agreement that would involve insurance for visitors and Mr. Newell. And the town could place appropriate signage directing people to park at the store. But if the town is willing and the property owner is willing and people already park there ( they do ) then why not proceed with this idea? In front of and behind CL Adam's there is enough room to park well over a hundred cars. Some people might still park on the grass occasionally but that is not so frequent that it is damaging the park. 2) The Old Town Hall is problematic because visitors have to cross busy main street and head uphill to the building if they can't find parking on Mountain Road. If one of the houses on Mountain road above the town hall comes up for sale in the future and is not historic and has a yard to accommodate a parking area... what if the town bought this parcel? It is a long shot but possible.

7 The same legal agreement reached with Mr. Newell can perhaps be sought with the owners of both the Post Office property and La Bonne's plaza. This is where all overflow visitors park now anyway. With uniform and easily read municipal signage, people looking for parking could access these places during their visit. I include the contact information for the 3 property owners discussed. I hope you will consider this plan. I think it is the most efficient, economical and preservation minded solution to the town's north side parking problem. sincerely George Hendricks CONTACT INFORMATION : DAVID NEWELL PO 548 WOODBURY, CT (LA BONNE'S PLAZA ) WOODBURY CENTER INC. C/O ZACKIN, ZIMYESKI, SULLIVAN LLC 1 EXCHANGE PLACE / 6TH FLOOR WATERBURY, CT.

8 ( POST OFFICE PROPERTY) GCO ENTERPRISES C/O SUSAN HANRAHAN 1 PROSPECT AVENUE SHELTON, CT