45-058 SoccerClub Ltr for Appeal
July 22. 2009
Carolyn MIsch
Office of Planning and Development
City of Northampton
01060
Dear Carolyn,
I wanted to provide some analysis and background in regards to the soccer fields at
the Oxbow and their impact on the traffic on Island Road. Hopefully, this will prove
helpful in tomorrow evening’s appeal at the ZBA of Building Inspector Anthony
Patillo’s refusal to issue a cease and desist order for the use of the fields.
While the satellite parking lot at the head of Island Road may not be used as heavily
as intended by the terms of the special permit the Northampton Soccer Club and
Western United FC have pursued an active program to reduce auto traffic on Island
Road, which was the central intent of the permit. Both clubs have scheduled games
and practices at alternate fields, promoted carpooling, posted a speed minder, and
consistently reminded our members and opponents to be respectful of our neighbors.
The result has been a significant drop in traffic levels from available data at the time
of the issuance of the permit in 2007.
Please see the table below for some figures:
Weekend Traffic West of Ferry Road Decrease
Saturday Sunday Average
Spring 2007 657 1185 921
Spring 2008 546 401 474 49%
Spring 2009 896 279 587 37%
Western United Practice Days Tuesday Thursday Average
Spring 2007 NA NA
Spring 2008 640 663 652
Spring 2009 516 345 431 34%
Average Daily Traffic (1 week)
Spring 2007 incomplete
Spring 2008 434
Spring 2009 451
A traffic count was not performed in Fall 2008, but the data taken in the Spring is a
better measure of the highest intensity of use of the roadway. Because City fields
are made available for the NSC in the Fall we reduce our use of the Oxbow
significantly. Spring ’08 and Spring ’09 had 49 and 25 games scheduled at the
Oxbow, respectively. Fall ’08 had 16 games scheduled at the Oxbow. Similarly,
Western United does not field any of its high school age teams for play in the Fall.
All those high school age teams play in the Spring, along with Western’s other age
groups.
Even when daily traffic of residents is added to the figures above the average daily
traffic is below 700 trips, which places the intensity of use relatively low when
compared to many other Northampton Streets. Our club has made a good faith
effort to meet the most important goal of the Special Permit and has been successful
in reducing car trips on Island Road. While our efforts to present this information to
the appellants from Island Road in private meetings have been rejected we are
happy to report this progress to you. Please let me know if I can be of any further
help.
Sincerely,
Timothy Stokes, President
Northampton Soccer Club