Committees discuss downtown planning
By Caitlyn Kelleher JOURNAL REPORTER

The Selectmen have decided to accept a warrant article for the fall Town Meeting that would put a moratorium on new building in the Village Center area of Ashburnham for about a year.

Selectmen and representatives of a variety of the town's other boards and committees decided they wanted a chance to determine the vision for the center of town. The town officials are discussing the future of the Highway Department site and a variety of other properties up for sale in and near the center of town.

"We need a draw (to town)," said Selectmen Mark Carlisle. "There are services I think could be provide in town are not."

The decision to have the Planning Board work with Town Counsel Deb Philips came at the end of a nearly hour-long discussion about the goals of the development of the center of town.

To legally put in a moratorium, the article voters pass at a Town Meeting would have to specifically call for a committee to study a specific area and to require the committee to make a recommendation for the future growth of that area at a specific time (about a year away).

"We have to be serious," Philips said. "We have to show progress."

Planning Board Chairman John MacMillan said he wants to make sure the moratorium doesn't prevent businesses from moving into existing buildings.

Town Planner Eric Smith presented a few grant opportunities that the town might be considered for as part of the planning process.

Selectman Christopher Gagnon asked why the town should look to do this now instead of in a couple of years when there are more concrete plans to more the Department of Public Works.

Focus Committee Chairman Bob Fitchell said there are a variety of other properties that could be sold or changed in the near future.

The Highway Department is currently in a building on a 4.2-acre parcel of land off Route 101 close to the center of town. A public discussion meeting was held in June to discuss potential uses for the site, after the Highway Department is moved, and two priorities were determined.

The top two interests of people on the committee for that property are commercial development and ground-level businesses with upper-level housing.

Carlisle said he would like the Focus Committee to continue their work trying to relocate the Highway Department.

"It's looked like Freddy Flintstone's gravel pit out there," he said.

Fitchell updated the Selectmen on that process, saying there are six sites that have been seriously considered, but each of them have their problems and their benefits. He also said that potential plans for the building's floor plan have been drawn and reviewed with the staffs.

The discussion about the area also included a variety of potential changes such as reductions for both lot size requirements and parking requirements, as well as changing the permit process to require developers to stop at one board instead of multiple boards.

"I agree with you about the one-stop shopping in the center of town," Carlisle said.

In other business:

• Interim Town Administrator Paul Boushell updated the board and residents to say Route 12 will not be resurfaced until sometime next year because of the ongoing work on the road.

During the installation of a water main on Main Street and Fitchburg Road, parts of the road were dug up so the road surface is now uneven. But the town has decided to wait until the water main for the Town Hall is installed, as well as the new utility boxes by the Light Department.

• The Selectmen tentatively set the date for the fall Town Meeting as either Nov. 13 or 15, but need to determine the availability of the town moderator and the Oakmont Regional High School auditorium.

The warrant for the town meeting will close on Monday, Oct. 1.

The selectmen have told the town's department heads not to ask for any articles that require funding.