MONTAGUE — About three dozen local residents turned out for an informal town hall-style meeting Monday evening to share feedback and get information on possible uses of land the City of Montague owns on Ferry Street.
The city has fielded interest from developers regarding the land, but as it has not formally enacted any standards for what it is looking for from the space, no one has yet advanced beyond that point. The city is hoping to soon make a decision it can present to interested developers.
Montague is permitted to enact its own standards for what it wants from the land, above and beyond those in place by city ordinance, provided an interested developer agrees to the terms as well. As an example, the city council has recently discussed potential architectural standards it would like to see implemented in any new building during work sessions.
The meeting was not a formal city council meeting - though several council members were in attendance - but city manager Jeff Auch presented possible options for the space, which spans from the Dowling Street intersection to the Ferguson dental office.
After some introductory comments from residents, several of which focused on the possibility of leaving the undeveloped area as green space, Auch shared what he called the "fly in the ointment" of that possibility - the city's master plan was recently updated, and that land is zoned as mixed-use, either residential or commercial. He said due to the zoning, fully leaving the land as green space would be complicated from a procedural perspective. Residential use on either the first floor of a building or below road level would be possible via special use permits.
Upon the master plan discussion, a majority - by show of hands - were in favor of a mixed-use development that could include some sort of green space. The group also seemed to agree on which part of the land the green space could be - closer to the Dowling/Ferry intersection, near the Dog n Suds. Auch said the city council also approved of that layout.
It's unknown what form an outdoor or green space area would take if one were included as part of the development. Council member Susan Newhof shared feedback from Joseph Ferguson, who owns the dental practice on Ferry and would be next door to any new business development. She said Ferguson wanted to pass along his endorsement of some sort of children's park in that area, and Newhof agreed, sharing her pride in the city's availability of parks and calling it a "beautiful" and "rare" quality she'd like to see enhanced further.
Another discussion point was the still-pending decision on whether Ferry Street will become a one-way street. This could, of course, affect a prospective business owner who desires to move into the space. Auch presented a few different possibilities for what a one-way Ferry Street could mean to the downtown area.
One was a rendering of the Montague Farmer's Market, which could, Auch said, be moved across the street from its current location without too much trouble to accommodate the one-way change. Such a move would open up the space the Farmer's Market currently occupies for more parking spots, something the city is aware would likely need to be addressed should a new development be built on the site.
"If we need new parking, where does that happen? How does that happen?" Auch said to introduce the possibilities available.
He said the east side of Ferry currently has 11 general parking spaces, plus a handicapped spot. A one-way Ferry could, he added, allow for 13 more public spaces and one or two more handicapped spots. However, that could create turning difficulties for traffic that travels down Ferry to Church Street. Harbor Pointe residents have expressed approval of the idea of making the entire area one-way traffic. However, at the Farmer's Market's current location, this could create its own issues on days the market is open, because Church Street is closed to traffic during market hours.
More traffic discussion came up as Auch and attendees considered possible improvements to the Ferry/Dowling intersection. A mention of a four-way stop produced some chuckles and good-natured groans; the grade of Dowling's hill and the viewing angles would likely make such a move impractical without significant changes to Dowling itself. It was also noted that if the full Ferry-to-Church route was made one-way, it would leave no outlet for cars other than the intersection of Dowling and Water streets. Auch allowed that everyone seemed to have a story about being on Water and stuck at that stoplight for multiple turns and said the matter has been discussed with the state department of transportation.
