TOPSHAM — Plans for a parking lot on Topsham’s Thomas Avenue are on hold for now, and town officials say there will be plenty of opportunity for the public to have their say if or when the proposal resurfaces.
Topsham’s Select Board chose not to set up a meeting with residents of the neighborhood at a Nov. 1 meeting, saying there would be more opportunity later.
“Right now, there is no proposal to build parking,” said Town Manager Rich Roedner. “If there becomes a proposal to do parking it will go back to the planning board, which will hold its process and taking public comment.”
The proposed project stalled when the town’s board of appeals overturned the permit obtained for the lot. Residents brought concerns to the board of appeals about the potential for degraded safety, noise and property values.
If the town does decide to bring the project forward again, selectmen reassured residents they would have chances to air their concerns.
“There are a number of people in the neighborhood, I’ve been canvasing myself, who still have concerns and want an opportunity to have some back and forth and some flow of conversation about those concerns,” resident Susan Lohnes told the Board.
With construction of a new Mt. Ararat High School underway, the town accommodated high school soccer teams at the Riverside Field, off Foreside Road, since those games have the potential to generate more traffic. Hillside has been used only for the youth soccer program. Town officials have said the issue of access to the field has been long-standing, and adding parking has not been brought on by more use of town fields.
The planning board approved a gravel parking lot off Thomas Avenue in July. Town officials said people using the Hillside recreational field needed parking. A narrow access road off Thomas Avenue has been used for handicap parking, but parking along the road could cause problems if emergency vehicles needed to get to the field. An ordinance Topsham has in place to prohibit parking on Thomas Avenue hasn’t always been enough to keep people from parking there.
The space for the lot cleared after some wood harvesting near the field. The lot could hold up to 40 cars. Revenue from the harvesting, approximately $14,000, was marked as a potential way to fund the project.
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