Northampton Soccer Club Permit Ext. 2011-05-16
Mark A. Tanner
Bacon Wilson, P.C.
31 Trumbull Road
Northampton, MA 01060
May 18, 2011
Dear Attorney Tanner,
I received your letter dated May 13, 2011 requesting that I enforce the terms of the August 6, 2007 Planning Board decision regarding soccer activities at the Oxbow Marina, and not
enforce the terms of the 2010 Planning Board decision restricting activities at the same location. Your request is based on the opinion that Section 173 of Chapter 240 of the Acts of
2010, known as the Permit Extension Act, applies to the 2007 Planning Board decision.
It is my determination that the Permit Extension Act does apply to the 2007 Planning Board decision, and that Special Permit is extended until June 30, 2012. Soccer activity is allowed
under the terms and conditions of that permit. I have included a copy of the decision.
The conditions of the 2007 permit include utilization of an offsite parking area and traffic counts. The next traffic count must begin as soon as possible.
The condition concerning traffic reduction states “the applicant shall utilize an off-site parking area to enable park and walking to fields and/or carpooling to fields. Such a site
shall accommodate 60 cars”. The board’s determination included the wording “The applicant will utilize a parking lot offsite for at least 60 vehicles to reduce the total number of vehicles
traveling down Island Road to the Marina/soccer site”. If the club chooses to utilize a parking area other than the PCA lot at the west end of Island Road, I will require some sort
of proof that a significant number of the players are carpooling. Please contact me to discuss how we might verify this.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Respectfully,
Louis Hasbrouck
Building Commissioner
City of Northampton
(413) 587-1240
lhasbrouck@city.northampton.ma.us
cc by email: Northampton Planning Department
Northampton Soccer Club
Island Road Residents