| Sarah Heinonen
sheinonen@thereminder.com
Category:
EAST LONGMEADOW – The East Longmeadow Planning Department wants to know what residents think.
As part of putting the master plan into action, which lays out the town’s goals for the next several years, Community Development and Planning Director Bailey Mitchell is asking which goals residents would like to see worked on first.
“I hate to see plans like this sit on the shelf,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell, who was hired in April, said he has experience implementing master plans, as he did so when he was the community development and planning director in Ferguson, MO. He said he has a “passion for serving the community as best I can.”
Because the master plan was developed between March 2020 and June 2021, Mitchell said resident priorities may have shifted. The survey is designed to examine what parts of the master plan are most important to residents now and then tackle the short-term steps to make those things happen.
“It’s really hard to serve the public interest if you don’t know what the public interest is,” Mitchell said, explaining that the purpose of the survey is to “get a feel for people’s opinions.”
Mitchell included 12 questions in the survey, hoping to strike a balance between gathering enough information and making it a manageable time commitment for residents.
The survey is live online at https://www.eastlongmeadowma.gov and will run until Aug. 5. Meanwhile, residents who would like to fill out the survey in person can do so at the National Night Out on Aug. 2. The Planning Department will have a booth on the grounds of East Longmeadow High School during the event. Mitchell said he will be on hand to answer questions.
Mitchell would like to make the survey annual or semi-annual to stay in touch with the “top-of-mind” issues.
Development
One of those issues is the development of the area around Center Square.
During the July 12 Town Council meeting, Town Manager Mary McNally reported that negotiations were ongoing between herself, Mitchell, the Planning Board and the owner of 70 Maple St. The project being negotiated would create a multi-use overlay district with a radius of one-quarter to one-half mile from the rotary. The arteries of Shaker Road and Maple Street would be upgraded, and McNally said it would offer “opportunities” for business development once COVID-19-related construction costs decrease.
Mitchell explained that the overlay district would create a more “walkable” downtown area and a solution to some of the housing problems East Longmeadow has been experiencing over the past few years. These topics were specifically cited when creating the master plan and is an example of putting goals into action.