It was a full and busy morning earlier today for my regular first Friday of the month selectman office hours at The Center (9-10 AM).
The suggestions I heard about, gathered, and/or the issues discussed with residents included:
- Parking is now officially a problem in the downtown
- I related that the Town Planner, Sarah Raposa, is currently conducting a study of the parking to come up with suggestions as to what might be done
- One excellent suggestion from Tony Centore, to resolve it some, was for the Medfield Memorial Library to have return boxes at remote sites, such as at The Center and/or the schools, so residents do not need to park downtown to return library books.
- Mike Sullivan has suggested adding a second level to the municipal lot across Jane’s Avenue from the Town House. The problem is that will be expensive.
- Some have suggested that new uses in the downtown that do not have enough parking (such as the new building just permitted to Dave MacCready, where Wills once was) should pay a parking fee to get permitted, and the monies could then be used to provide the parking.
- Meters would prevent employees from parking is spaces all day long, but no one wants to have meters.
- It was suggested that the Medfield Historical Society should move into the Medfield Memorial Library, and all its holdings should be digitized. The current Medfield Historical Society could then be torn down to provide more parking.
- Lot 3 off Ice House Road. Concern was expressed over uses of that land that would generate high amounts of traffic past The Center. It was noted that the traffic to the Kingsbury Club already goes too fast in that area. A preference was expressed for housing, especially housing for older residents, where it adjoins the existing senior center at The Center.
- Universal acclaim for the new Brothers Marketplace.
Medfield02052's Blog 
How about putting the historical society in the Dwight derby or Lowell mason houses? Megan Brott SullivanSent from Xfinity Connect Mobile App
I find the solutions to the parking problem to be disastrous. We want MORE people coming into downtown; returning library books is one good way to get them there. We know our library is one of the most heavily used in the Minuteman System – that should be seen as an advantageous and an opportunity. Forcing new businesses to pay a parking fee seems to de-incentivize retailers and asks them to fix a problem they didn’t create. We want MORE retail, and more reasons to come downtown. We should want to diversity our tax base. I don’t even know where to start on the suggestion to replace the Historical Society with a parking lot.
We should instead also be thinking about services that encourage walking and bike riding – more public amenities – bathrooms, bike racks, public seating, public parks, places for strollers and dogs. Something like 20% of Medfield’s population lives within a half mile or 10 minute walk of downtown. I know it’s not an either / or and both parking and pedestrian traffic will have to be addressed. When people walk and bike, they stop and talk and connect, building community one conversation at a time. That doesn’t happen when we move through town in a car. And it probably costs a whole lot less.
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Jean, When I heard the remote book drop off idea it seemed like a good idea to me because it did help to solve the parking congestion issue on which I was focusing, but I was clearly not thinking of the broader issues of downtown vibrancy you raise, and which when I read them make me say to myself “of course that is right.” Being too compartmentalized in one’s thinking can clearly be dangerous. Thanks for opening a door and straightening me out.
Mike Sullivan made the same point at our BoS meeting last night, that we want people to come downtown.
I also agree with you about needing more connection from neighborhoods to the downtown, for other that car traffic, so we can encourage pedestrians and bicycle use. I would like to see a citizen study committee focused on creating more of those links, whether by sidewalks or trails. To your point about the need for supportive amenities, I mentioned to Kristen when we toured the new Brothers Market that their restrooms were bound to become that sort of a public amenity.
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