21.354 An Order to Surplus City Land for Shared Use Parking at the Roundhouse Parking Lot - CertifiedCity of Northampton
MASSACHUSETTS
_________
In City Council, November 18, 2021
Upon the recommendation of Mayor David J. Narkewicz and Planning & Sustainability
21.354 An Order to Surplus City Land for Shared Use Parking at the Roundhouse Parking Lot
WHEREAS, As part of the 2021 reconstruction and expansion of the Roundhouse Parking Lot,
the city reviewed the history of the overall parking layout and management;
WHEREAS, When the Roundhouse Plaza (a/k/a Peter Pan bus terminal) was first developed on
the site of a DPW maintenance building, the city permitted the owner to locate a
portion of its adjacent parking lot on city property, both to encourage the
redevelopment and to improve inter-urban bus access;
WHEREAS, An extensive search of city and registry records as part of the Roundhouse Parking
Lot project revealed that the long-term lease agreement between the city and
property owner for that additional land was never formally executed; and
WHEREAS, The eight parking spaces on the southernmost edge of the Roundhouse Plaza
building, which are located on city land, remain integral to the successful operation
of the bus terminal and offices and the owner wishes to continue that historical use
and is willing to execute a proper 30-year lease with the city, consistent with MGL
30B, the Uniform Procurement Act; and
WHEREAS, Those eight spaces are heavily used during the day by the Roundhouse Plaza, but
have a high vacancy rate after office hours and on weekends, the times when the
public parking system is most stressed;
WHEREAS, The Roundhouse Plaza property owner supports a lease that would limit use of the
eight parking spaces by its tenants to office hours while allowing the city to utilize
the spaces for public parking when needed most at nights and on weekends;
WHEREAS, The property owner would continue to be responsible for all of the maintenance,
landscaping, and snow removal in and around the eight parking spaces resulting in
no additional maintenance costs to the city as a result of any lease agreement;
Ordered, that
City Council declares the land on which those eight Roundhouse Plaza parking spaces sit surplus
to city needs;
Further that the Mayor is authorized to sign a lease for parking during office hours on those eight
spaces, subject to restrictions and conditions that the Mayor imposes to accomplish these needs.
Roundhouse Plaza
(Northampton Terminal
Associates)