MEMORANDUM

 

Date:   

May 15, 2007

To:      

Marcia Rasmussen, Director

Department of Planning & Land Management

Town of Concord

 

From:   

Steven G. Cecil AIA ASLA

RE:      

Summary of Village Visioning Workshops

Copies:

Concord Villages Committee, Concord Planning Board

 

This memorandum summarizes the observations and input gathered from participants of two community workshops that focused upon planning opportunities within each of Concord’s three village centers. The interactive workshops were held on consecutive Saturdays and involved approximately one hundred citizens and stakeholders in the future of the centers. The village centers that were the subjects of the workshops consisted of Concord Center, the Thoreau/Depot Area, and West Concord Center.

This summary consists of three parts:

  • Review of the workshop agendas
  • Summary of the participant’s observations regarding each center
  • List of ideas and recommendations for the future

The results of the workshops will be employed in creating planning strategies for each of the village centers that will address the problems and opportunities recognized by the participants. The strategies will be developed in draft form for review and discussion by the Villages Committee and the Concord Planning Board. The strategies, in turn, will be a basis for crafting new planning policies and tools to help shape the future of the village centers.

Workshop Agendas

The workshops were held on April 28th and May 5. The first workshop considered both Concord Center and the Thoreau/Depot Area. The second workshop focused on West Concord Village Center.

The first workshop began with a presentation of observations on the two subject centers prepared by The Cecil Group. Following the presentation, break-out groups were formed. Two groups considered the Thoreau/Depot Area, while one group discussed Concord Center. The groups discussed and prepared their assessments of key characteristics of each center, as follows:

 

  • Characteristics that must not change
  • Characteristics that must change
  • Characteristics that are likely or desirable to change, under certain conditions

 

The observations of each group were recorded on maps and charts.

 

The groups then focused upon ideas for the future that would address the opportunities and constraints that had been articulated in the previous discussion. The ideas were again recorded on maps. A brief report was then offered to the ensemble of participants to note prominent or consistent ideas that had emerged.

 

The second workshop employed a very similar agenda. However, a mid-session break provided an opportunity for participants in breakout groups to walk throughout the village center and observe various opportunities and issues.

 

Observations: Preservation and Change

 

The following list has been prepared by The Cecil Group to convey primary ideas that emerged during the first set of breakout sessions. The participants provided their judgments regarding those aspects of each village center that should not be changed – or as a practical matter, will not change. They listed those characteristics that must be changed because they are in conflict with community goals. Then, they described those characteristics that subject to change and requiring planning to meet community goals.

 

These categories are very important to the planning process. Aspects that should be preserved require a particular set of planning tools to limit undesirable change. Those aspects that must be changed will need pro-active efforts on the part of the community. Those aspects that are susceptible to change require different types of tools that ensure that the results are consistent with the community’s goals.

 

In each of the three village centers, The Cecil Group has culled a “top ten” list of characteristics to help serve as a focus for further discussion.

 

 

Concord Center

Characteristics that Must Not or Will Not Change

  • Historic buildings, places and open space features
  • Shopping opportunities for Concord residents
  • Civic and religious institutions
  • Colonial Inn in the center
  • Adequate supply of parking for residents that know where to park
  • The character and uses around Monument Square
  • Residences adjacent and near the Center
  • Tight pattern of businesses and historic buildings along Main Street and Walden Street
  • Preserved and protected open spaces along the edges of the Center
  • Library

 

Characteristics that Must Change

  • Excessive pavement for vehicles and unsafe circulation patterns
  • Expansion of banking offices
  • Need for streetscape improvements in some areas (Keyes Road, Lowell Road)
  • Inefficient and unattractive parking areas
  • Lack of pedestrian and bicycle connections in some areas
  • Additional views and access to the stream

 

Characteristics that May Change, and Require Special Planning

  • Use patterns in the retail and commercial spaces could change and be less attractive or useful to residents.
  • Ability to expand or rebuild parcels to accommodate additional uses, including housing
  • More and better pedestrian connections to parking in back of the buildings
  • Allowing additional height on some parcels and buildings
  • Provision of commercial space at basement or “daylight basement” levels
  • Uses and development patterns at the lumber yard, oil supply yard and nearby parcels near the Keyes Road, Lowell Road intersection
  • Expanded open space and access to the stream that bisects the Center
  • Provision of additional parking on the Town-owned lots
  • Provision for parking of residents in the Village Center

 

Thoreau/Depot Village Center

Characteristics that Must Not or Will Not Change

  • Depot building (although use could change)
  • Concord Crossing (good mix of uses)
  • Concord Provisions and Cleaners (old buildings with character)
  • Ambulance building
  • Presence of a grocery store
  • “Convenience” center – food and high school kids
  • Relationship between sidewalks, buildings and streets, especially along Thoreau
  • La Provence, Dunkin Donuts (good uses)
  • General mix of uses, diversity
  • Availability of commuter parking (off street)
  • Presence of train station

 

Characteristics that Must Change

  • Light intersection at Sudbury and Thoreau (very congested)
  • Move Starbucks (to another location within the village)
  • Crosby’s center (overall area seems underutilized)
  • New London/rug store building
  • Parking for funeral home (needs better accommodation)
  • Village needs more entertainment (for young people)
  • Need for more retail on Thoreau, less professional offices
  • Commuter parking (prevent from spilling over the village)
  • Add commercial or residential uses on second floors
  • Improve pedestrian access

 

Characteristics that May Change, and Require Special Planning

·         Better use of parking area at Concord Crossing (either more density or “shared” parking)

·         Residential edges of commercial area

  • Video Revolution building
  • Crosby’s area/intensity and type of uses
  • Asphalt paved area in front of Depot building (potential for public space, outdoor seating)

·         Provide shuttle between village centers

  • Avoid “Newtonification”

West Concord Village Center

Characteristics that Must Not or Will Not Change

  • Character and feel of Commonwealth Ave. business district
  • Open space and wetland areas
  • Recreational fields
  • Community Center
  • Historic church properties
  • The depot and adjacent public space
  • The depot parking lot
  • The new senior living project
  • The bakery building
  • The Post Office

 

Characteristics that Must Change

  • The open space adjacent to the depot
  • The strip mall on Commonwealth Ave on the east side of the center
  • Some of the existing (underutilized) parcels along the rail line
  • Abandoned rail right-of-way
  • Linkage of open space and green space to create an understandable network
  • More understandable / visible connection to river
  • Traffic issues along Commonwealth Ave.
  • Wayfinding and circulation in the village center
  • Connection to business park adjacent to Baker Ave.

 

Characteristics that May Change, and Require Special Planning

  • The reuse of the wood frame, former furniture buildings on the commuter rail line
  • The triangle green at the intersection of Laws Brook and Commonwealth
  • The car dealership properties
  • The industrial properties between the Post Office and abandoned RR ROW
  • The small abandoned building and property on Commonwealth Ave at the main intersection
  • Underutilized brick plaza at rail junction
  • Playground parking

Summaries of Planning Ideas and Inspirations

The following lists record ideas that were offered by participants regarding future opportunities. They do not reflect an attempt to create or achieve consensus regarding a complete or coherent vision or planning concept.

Concord Center

  • Manage uses to provide a mix of retailing appealing to Concord residents and attracting them on a regular basis
  • Strengthen pedestrian connections to nearby centers
  • Expand pedestrian areas and open space into paved roadways and intersections where they are wider than necessary, and decrease crosswalk width
  • Reorganize the parking, open space to allow the open portion of the stream to become a feature of the center.
  • Provide a bridge behind uses on the west side (downstream) portion.
  • Rationalize and improve parking lots
  • Provide better pedestrian and bike connections
  • Preserve historic assets

 

Thoreau/Depot Village Center

  • Improve traffic light timing at Sudbury and Thoreau
  • Retain grocery store in the village
  • Improve pedestrian connections across the village
  • Reorganize large parking lot areas (Crosby’s, Concord Crossing)
  • Add more density to Concord Crossing
  • Add mixed use/residential development to Crosby’s area
  • Add parking for commuters (parking deck or garage)
  • Keep and enhance the character of retail village along Thoreau
  • Create attractive public space in front of Depot with outdoor seating, perhaps a café or restaurant
  • Eliminate parking spillover onto residential streets

 

West Concord Village Center

  • Preserve character and feel of the village center
  • Alleviate traffic congestion by reconfiguring circulation through the town (traffic loops)
  • Better utilization of business area to the northeast of Commonwealth Ave.
  • Creation of a network of green spaces
  • Better access to the river
  • Improve parking lots and wayfinding to them
  • Expand playground parking to Bradford street
  • Eliminate parking along one side of Commonwealth Ave.
  • Create a way of bypassing intersection at Main St. and Commonwealth Ave.