Interpretation Of By-Laws Sought
The public hearing on tentative specifications for Westover Street D as a condition of acceptance by the town, scheduled for Tuesday night turned out to be a conference of the planning board, the selectmen, and Marry Korslund representing the Westover Corporation. Aside from Thomas U. Mahoney, Rosewell Norton, John Bamber, Charles Nicholson, all of the planning board, and Korslund, no other citizens appeared to express their opinions on the specifications for the street. Any decision on the matter was held over another week pending a further conference between Mr. Korslund and Town Manager William C. Kendrick
Three Ready to Build
Selectman John Mutch, opening the discussion, expressed disappointment that the citizenry had taken not interest in the hearing, and said that a hearing with only town officials present could not hope to accomplish the purpose for which it was called. Mr. Korslund after telling the Board that he and two of his clients were ready to build on Street D, said that the Westover Corporation was ready to meet any reasonable demands for the street, and was waiting to be told what to do, rather than trying to tell the Board what to do.
Selectman Charles Holman expressed the fear that accepting the one-way specifications might be establishing a precedent which the Board would have to follow with all similar streets, to which Selectman Sture Nelson and Harry Butters replied that the wording of the law accepted last fall by the town left the selectmen free to decide on each situation as it arose, and that while a precedent might be indicated, no policy would be set up. They said that they believed the Board was free to, and should judge each case on its merits.
One Way Question
Considerable discussion was aroused by Mr. Korslund’s statement that the one-way traffic regulation should apply to through traffic only and not to the neighborhood traffic of the street itself. The Board agreed that they had understood differently from George F. Willett in previous discussions, and examination of the by-law revealed that the proposed 18-foot width automatically restricted the street to one way. Mr. Nicholson objected to this width on the grounds that the one-way regulation would be difficult to enforce, and stated that one sidewalk was needed on the street and that the maintenance cost of the grass strips proposed would become a Hal problem.
It was understood at the close of the hearing that if the street was accepted as an 18-foot width, one-way regulations would have to be enforced for all traffic. On a motion from Selectman Mutch the town counsel is to be asked for an opinion with respect to the sidewalk regulations contained in the by-laws, and Mr. Korslund, the General Manager, and the chairman of the planning board are to iron out further considerations to present the situation more in detail to the Board next week.
Mr. Korslund in reply pointed out that the one-way traffic was automatic according to the street layouts, and Mr, Mahoney asked for information on the sidewalk regulations, suggesting that a saving would be effected if sidewalk construction could be delayed until the need for them arose.
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(All articles originally appeared in the Norwood Free Press unless otherwise noted)