4-1-09
An on-line survey was conducted by the Southampton Association at the end of 2008. Over 150 people responded with a roughly even split between year-round residents and part-time residents of the Village.
One of the clearest results of the survey was the strong support for preservation. 91% of respondents want to preserve the small town feeling of Southampton Village. 89% want to preserve the architecture and scale of Main and Jobs and 85% are against future development in the style of the CVS site.
Another significant finding was strong support for small businesses over large national chains. 88% said maximum store sizes should be limited to discourage national chains. The survey results suggest that a Vision Plan objective encouraging the promotion of smaller local businesses over larger national chains should be added.
There was support for carefully controlled incremental development. A narrow majority of 55% felt the Village should increase useable square footage by “a little”. 90% were in favor of allowing Windmill and Nugent to redevelop in the same character as Main and Jobs and not allowing wide design latitude. Most (62%) felt new development should be no more than 2 stories. There was mixed support for residential with 68% approving of apartments on Windmill and Nugent and a smaller number (57%) approving of apartments on Main and Jobs.
There was support for the draft Vision Plan objective of encouraging a compact, pedestrian center. 65% want to encourage concentrating shops, services, and institutions within a 5-minute walking radius of Village Hall. 75% want environmentally sound development patterns that are not auto-dependent. 75% were against moving Village Hall with a majority in favor of centralizing Village offices back into the historic Hall.
Compact development suggests improved parking so that visitors can park and walk. However, there was a split of opinion on how to improve parking. Most (88%) agreed there could be improvements to the existing surface lots and streets with improved layouts, signage and landscaping. A significant majority of Southampton Association respondents (74%) were against any kind of multi-level parking facilities. This view is reinforced by the study indicating there is adequate existing parking and significant opportunities to increase parking spots through redesign of Windmill, Nugent and surface lots.
There was strong support (76%) for better storm water and waste water management which supports the proposed Vision Plan objective to “Green” Windmill Lane. However, it might make sense to broaden the objective to “Agawam Watershed Improvement” so that the focus of storm water management not be limited to Windmill and could include the surface parking lots and feeder streets such as Nugent. This broader Vision Plan objective could include introducing permeable surfaces to the large surface lots behind Hildreths and the movie theater while simultaneously rationalizing those facilities. It could also include permeable surfaces along the edges of Windmill and Nugent while simultaneously increasing parking opportunities on those streets. Finally, it could include redesigning the intersections of Windmill and Nugent and Windmill and Jobs to provide new storm water systems and create more pedestrian friendly crossings.
There was not universal support for a new sewage treatment facility. While the majority of respondents from the Village Web Site (74%) were in favor of such a facility, 53% of Southampton Association respondents were against such a sewage plant because it would encourage new development and conflict with the “Preservation” objective.
The survey demonstrated support for the objectives of “reinforcing the Village Green” and “Encouraging an Arts and Performance District. 63% want to promote the arts and museums and 77% approved of using the Dosher Building as a center for artists. 69% would like to enhance green streetscapes, public open space, and expanded recreational opportunities. Support was about even for a café in Agawam Park and expansion of the Park to include the triangle with the flagpole. 63%, however, were against a permanent band shell for Agawam Park.
