Chicopee Planning Department

There is alot going on at Szot Park,

From our Abbey Brook Restoration Project, to our Szot Park Master Plan!

To follow, check out our hub:

Frank J. Szot Memorial Park A hub for Planning-related projects and activities happening at the City of Chicopee's Flagship Park.

Chicopee Post 911 & Service Dog Memorial Park Update | What's Happening Chicopee

https://arcg.is/0DSHWe0

Curious about what's going on at Szot Park? This Storymap is a regularly updated info hub for us to stay in the know!

Chicopee Parks and Recreation Department
City of Chicopee - Mayor's Office

Frank J. Szot Memorial Park A tale of preserving the history of Chicopee, the restoration of an ecosystem, and the bonding of the Community.

Attention!

The City of Chicopee Planning Department is announcing the formal start to a 30-day public comment period to receive feedback for the first Comprehensive Plan, Envision Our Chicopee: 2040. Scan the QR Code below, or navigate to https://envisionourchicopee2040.com/

Questions and feedback can be directed via online form at: https://envisionourchicopee2040.com/get-involved

City of Chicopee - Mayor's Office

We are still extremely excited to be finishing up this decade-long project with Chicopee Department of Veterans Services & Chicopee Parks and Recreation Department! Follow the Story and stay updated on the progress here:

Western Massachusetts Post 9-11 & Service Dog Memorial Park The City, through a multi-departmental collaboration involving Planning, Veterans Services, and Parks & Recreation, is working to create the Western Massachusetts Post 9/11 & Service Dog Memorial Park. The Project encompasses the development of a new park facility and memorial experience on parkland...

See you Thursday 1 to 6 pm next to City Hall!

Vendors
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Botanica
Brown Cow Farm Market
Buzz Off Bee Company
Dark Diamond Designs 13
dusty goat farm
kylie's crochet
Nightjar Farm
Plum Island Jams
Small Oven Bakery
Tapestry Health
Wicked Good Treats

Food Trucks
Island Spice Food Truck
Paris & Ty's

Music by Anders Warringer

The vendor lineup for June 15 is here! The market runs 1 to 6 but our food trucks will be set up a bit early for the lunch hour!

Agudelo Farm and Apiary
Alianzadv
Botanica
Brown Cow Farm Market
Dusty Goat Farm Living Foods
TRIBE POWER BITES LLC
Grown Up Farm
LIDS_LIVE_Well
Nightjar Farm
Plum Island Jams
Small Oven

🌭🧀
Dev's Mac N' Eats
Paris & Ty's

🎼
Eli Elkus

Make no mistake: a City, like a home, is judged by its looks. A house's flooring and carpeting is a City's roadways and sidewalks.

Entryway Bench Bench next to a lamp post...same

The City's Streetscapes are important not only for attracting those who use them to get to where they are going, but also for the opportunities they can provide to enhance the experience of the built environment in its entirety. A streetscapse not only incorporates the road and pavement, but also includes furniture, lighting, vegetation, paint, etc.

We are constantly sweeping and trying to polish our floors...I mean...streets to maintain cleanliness and safety. But, sometimes overuse makes that more difficult to do. BUT! we in the Planning Department are aware of the issues and concerns about our streetscapes, and are doing what we can to make them usable and safe for all.

For more information, check out the following:

DIY Approach to Streetscaping - http://tacticalurbanismguide.com/about/

National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO): Urban Street Design Guide -
https://nacto.org/publication/urban-street-design-guide/interim-design-strategies/

City of Chicopee - Mayor's Office

Happy Tuesday 😎, but let's be honest, the sunglasses are ironic...

This week, it may be fair to look at "Brownfield" for our term of the week. A Brownfield is an "area with abandoned, idle, or underutilized facilities" that have remained vacant or, brown, due to the presence of contaminants and blight the site may contain. This is a common sight in industrial areas.

Communities around the U.S. have been able to leverage the EPA's Brownfields programs to clean up sites that are found to fit the definition threshold of a brownfield and subsequently redeveloped to benefit the communities that, oftentimes, have faced blight due to the disappearance of industry and commerce on these former sites.

For us here in Chicopee, our mills and former indutrial sites are Brownfields that, over the years through substantial abatement and planning, are ripe for equitable redevelopment. Brownfields are our diamonds in the rough and, with enough dredging, pressure & cleaning, they can shine.

For examples of Brownfields around Chicopee and Nationally check these out:

Planning Department Brownfields Page - https://www.chicopeema.gov/565/Brownfields

Massachusetts Brownfields to Brightfields Map Explorer -
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/cb7aaa88e5d840da8ac6714ab5edfe08/page/page_1/?data_id=dataSource_2-base_points_7038%3A543

U.S. EPA Brownfields Site - https://www.epa.gov/brownfields

The City's latest Brownfield site up for Redevelopment, Uniroyal Redevelopment Parcel - https://fb.watch/kgZ1m5wqKD/

🎵Who are the People in your Neighborhood?🎶

Sesame Street has been asking the right questions for decades now...

In the Planning world, a Neighborhood is a geographically defined area, with accepted boundaries by those who live within them. Often times, these boundaries have been drawn for a very long time and these subsequent areas are just known by their designated monikers, forever. This is sometimes synonymous with "Community", which is why we can explore Neighborhoods beyond their physically drawn boundaries.

The idea of Community is intangeable; communities exist online, geographically, mentally, etc. So, in this instance, maybe a neighborhood is a physical representation of the traditional understanding of a Community?

Bah! Who Knows? What we do know, is that Community makes people stronger, period. A common goal and common aspirations are key elements of what that entails. So do our neighborhoods stop at the intersection, or is Chicopee in its entirety our neighborhood?

And....while we are thinking about it, WHO ARE THE PEOPLE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD!? Please take the survey 😁: https://www.chicopeema.gov/953/Neighborhoods

What does "Accessory" mean?

There has been much abuzz in the past decade about Accessory Buildings, Accessory Uses, Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), etc. but, depending on where you live, the specifics of what constitutes this are ambiguous. So, this week, let's talk about it!

"Accessory", in this context of course, means any use or building that exists on the same parcel of land, but is not the principal structure. That's right, guest houses, in-law suites, bakery shops out of the home - all examples. So where is the hang-up?

Many municipalities are either very resdtrictive or very liberal in their zoning in regard to accessory structures and uses. Without uniformity in what we understand to be these structures and uses, there is an inherent misunderstanding of what that entails.

______________________________________________________________________

Want to know how our City's current zoning deals with Accessory Uses and Structures?

Visit here: https://ecode360.com/6482065

Oh hello there, happy Tuesday.

This week, can we talk a bit about Non-conforming Use?

Here in the Northeast, we boast, quite literally, about being the birthplace of the Nation. This comes with pride and...antiques?

Many properties, buildings or otherwise, were laid out long before Zoning, the rise and fall of Heavy Industry, and what we call Environmentalism. This has resulted in these properties being non-conforming with the "times". Because of this, these properties are "Non-conforming" and inconsistent with modern use and regulations regarding our built environment.

Luckily, we are aware of this and incorporate this knoweldge in how we go about Planning in areas with these conditions.

If you have some questions, comments, or concerns about non-conforming use and regulations, come talk!

City of Chicopee - Mayor's Office

Center Fresh Farmers Market The 2023 Center Fresh Farmers Market will happen weekly on Thursdays June through October, 1 to 6 p.m. in Chicopee Center Interested vendors apply today!

Merry Monday! This week's Planning Topic is "Microclimate". Exactly how it sounds, a microclimate is a scaled down climate that often exists as a result of the organisms and organization of the space around them. We typically often think of them when we think of arboreal habitats (parks, groves, etc.). But, we can also discuss them in terms of the built, human environment.

Most of us are personally familiar with the way it seems hotter in our cities than outside of them. This is due to the Urban Heat Island Effect, a sort of microclimate that results from poor policy choice patterns, lack of foresight when picking materials for infrastructure and other developments, as well as when designing open space and recreation. Luckily, we understand the potential effects of this particular microclimate, and are working to mitigate the harmful effects. For more information, check out the following:

U.S. EPA "Urban Heat Island Effect" - https://www.epa.gov/heatislands #:~:text=Structures%20such%20as%20buildings%2C%20roads,temperatures%20relative%20to%20outlying%20areas

Spray and Splash Pads to Mitigate Heat in Chicopee -
https://www.chicopeema.gov/790/Pools-and-Spray-Parks

List of Parks to experience Microclimates in our City -
https://www.chicopeema.gov/337/City-Parks

Chicopee Parks & Recreation Department
City of Chicopee City Hall
Chicopee City Mayor's Office

https://www.chicopeema.gov/ImageRepository/Document?documentID=15908

Happy Monday!

This week's Planning Terminology is "Complete Streets". Despite its use mostly a buzzphrase, the spirit behind Complete Streets Policy is an attempt to refocus our Urban streets from prioritizing motor vehicle traffic, to a safer, more-inclusive picture of "alternative" (more-traditional) methods of mobility. 🚦🚏

To Learn a bit more, check this out: https://smartgrowthamerica.org/what-are-complete-streets/

www.chicopeema.gov

Here is a look at what's happening this week!

City of Chicopee - Mayor's Office
RiverMills Center Chicopee Council on Aging
Chicopee Parks and Recreation Department
Boys & Girls Club of Chicopee

DID YOU KNOW!?

Construction is underway at our soon-to-be Chicopee Post-9/11 & Service Dog Memorial Park!

Follow progress here: https://www.chicopeema.gov/895/Post-911-Service-Dog-Memorial

City of Chicopee - Mayor's Office
Chicopee Parks and Recreation Department

Western Massachusetts Post 9/11 and Service Dog Memorial Park | Chicopee, MA The City of Chicopee, through collaboration between its Veterans Services Office, Department of Planning & Development, and Department of Parks & Recreation, is excited to update the public on the design progress and seek public comment on concept plans for the future Western Massachusetts Post 9/11...

The Departments of Planning & Development and Parks & Recreation are working on an update to the City's Open Space and Recreation Plan (OSRP). Join us in planning for the future of Chicopee's open spaces and recreational assets!

The current OSRP is available here: http://www.chicopeema.gov/564/Open-Space-Recreation

Please complete the OSRP planning survey available here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZKG53Z7