Minutes
TOWN OF GRANBY
GRANBY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
Town Hall Meeting Room
Monday, September 14, 2010
7:00 P.M.
Bud Murtha, Chairman, Martin Schwager, John Krug, Robert Rome, Ken Kuhl and Fran Armentano, Director of Community Development.
Attending from the public was Matt Garrett of 56 Day St South, who was invited to participate in the discussions.
Various issues related to current development activities were discussed. Ken Kuhl provided an overview of the current housing market. This was discussed together with the retail and office market. Planning and Zoning Commission activity was discussed, particularly the application for a Bed and Breakfast at the Lost Acres Vineyard. The Commission members support the Bed and Breakfast.
The Commission continues to discuss the Granby Center. Fran provided maps which showed the location of existing and proposed sidewalks and crosswalks on Route 189. The members feel that the crosswalks are critical in linking the commercial businesses on the north and south side of Route 189. The locations were based on the commission’s previous discussions. The Commission made various suggestions and agreed on the proposal. Chairman Murtha will send the following letter to the Town Manager and the Police Chief seeking their support for sidewalks and crosswalks:
Over the past years the Granby Development Commission has been working on improving the Granby Center. The Development Commission prepared the Granby Center Zone requirements which were adopted by the Planning and Zoning Commission in April of 2009. As you may know, these new regulations “promote development patterns and a land use mix which encourages walking” and envisions a Town Center where “residents can walk to work and walk from business to business”. In recent months Development Commission members have been walking around the Center to better understand the pros and cons of walking, while identifying impediments.
Based on the above, the Development Commission feels that there are some minor and inexpensive improvements that can be undertaken within the Center that would significantly improve pedestrian movements throughout the Center area.
First would be the inclusion of crosswalks on Route 189 (Hartford Avenue). The Commission recommends 3 crosswalks. These crosswalks are shown on the attached map. They are based on reasonable spacing, the location of adjacent sidewalks and are in areas where pedestrians have been observed crossing the street. Similar crosswalks exist in Simsbury Center, Route 10 and Suffield Center, Route 168, Mountain Road.
Additionally, 2 minor sidewalk extensions are recommended. These extensions are in areas where people are currently walking and will make walking more convenient, thereby encouraging more walking.
The first would be to connect the sidewalk that currently extends from Park Place to the Granby War Memorial, to the sidewalk on Hartford Avenue. This new portion of sidewalk would be entirely on Town property. The second is a connection between the existing sidewalk in front of Starbuck’s to the parking lot of the Kevorkian Building. This would allow pedestrians to walk from Starbucks, across the Kevorkian parking lot to an existing sidewalk that connects to CVS. The Commission understands that the property owners would permit the construction of this short length of sidewalk. (See map)
The Commission believes that the crosswalks should be the first priority and we hope that Chief Watkins, Granby Traffic Authority, can assist in facilitating their placement.
The Development Commission has directed staff representative, Fran Armentano to initiate further conversation of this matter and to report back to the Commission.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
The meeting adjourned at 8:56 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Fran Armentano
Acting Recording Secretary
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