Route 2A corridor study presented to Economic Development Corporation

ATHOL – The latest draft of a study on the development of the Route 2A corridor from the South Main Street Bridge to the Orange town line has been presented to the Economic Development and Industrial Corporation.

The study was done by the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission [MRPC] with funding from the state’s District Local Technical Assistance Program.

“Some of this area along Route 2A, we actually rezoned it a few years ago now. There’s a lot of land kind of up on the hillside that has some frontage on 2A, there was a lot of split-zoned property with vacant land that’s zoned general/commercial,” Planning and Development Director Eric Smith told the Athol Daily News in a recent interview. “We have to unlock some of those properties. A lot of them are privately controlled, so we want to have some conversations with the landowners about what their visions are for the property and see if there are ways we could access the property and maybe get a road in there. Putting infrastructure on the hillside is obviously going to cost some money.”

Smith said infrastructure in the area has also been examined.

“For example, we know that the sewer line ends near the old greenhouse at 501 South Main St. property owned by Peter Gerry,” he added. “There are also water pressure challenges in that area. Improvement to the infrastructure along the corridor would ultimately boost economic development of that area.”

The MRPC also looked at demographic trends, Smith said.

“One of the things they found is that there is demand for what they called ‘flex industrial’ type uses. Sometimes they’re called ‘industrial condos.’ When the buildings are built, they include office space along with a garage or a working bay for contractors, for example,” he said. “It allows people to rent or lease the space rather than trying to run that kind of business out of their home. There was some positive feedback from the (commission) regarding that idea.”

Smith said EDIC members “also mentioned those kinds of facilities might also be suitable for indoor recreational uses. They also made some potential zoning suggestions we should look at to possibly advance those kinds of structures. Those kinds of suggestions would ultimately go to the Planning Board.”

The next step in the process, said Smith, is to take a look at the zoning issues further, along with some broader recommendations for that area, which may be rolled into the master plan.

“When we get the final report, we’ll share that with the Master Plan Committee as well as the EDIC, and try to move some ideas forward,” he said.

EDIC Chair Keith McGuirk said his group met with members of the Orange EDIC last year to explore potential projects deserving of cooperation between the two economic development organizations.

“One of the things that came up was the idea it would interesting to do a study of available developable sites between Athol and Orange on Route 2A,” McGuirk said. “Athol has very limited topography there, where Orange has quite a bit of flat land between Hannaford Plaza and the center of Orange. Eric (Smith) had a line on some grant monies for such a study.”

However, McGuirk said, the Orange wasn’t able to participate in the grant “because Orange is in Franklin County. They weren’t able to participate in the study. We wanted to see something that would benefit both towns, but the grant rules were such that because they’re in a different county – they have their own county organization, the Franklin Regional Council of Governments – they weren’t able to participate. But we went through with the study anyway.”

McGuirk said the area under study “has development possibilities, whether it be housing or commercial endeavors.”

Smith said the overall goal of the 2A corridor project is finding ways to expand the economic and commercial base in Athol.