FINAL DESIGN DETAIL: Plain Street Parking

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Welcome Kiosk and Benches

Tomaszewki Solar Field

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Parking Lot field site includes 10 parking spaces, including one waste station, and two benches under a flowering crabapple. Additional shrubs and trees have been added to screen the view of the solar arrays. Residents of the Plains access the Shared-Use Nature Path at the Giustina Conservation Area on Plain Street across from Apple Tree Lane. A raised crosswalk equipped with button-activated traffic signals provides a safe crossing from the side path on the south side of Plain Street. The Tomaszewki property (west of the Giustina Conservation Area and north of a number of residential lots on the north side of Plain Street) is slated to be developed as a solar array. The developers’ proposed plan includes an access road to the solar site through the southwest portion of the city-owned Giustina Conservation Area across from Apple Tree Lane. Collaboration between the City of Easthampton and the developers of the solar field presents the opportunity to create a trailhead, including an informational kiosk, a bicycle maintenance station, and a small parking lot, without clearing any of the mature white pine forest growing in the Giustina Conservation Area. A 10-foot-wide Shared Use Path could parallel the access road with a separated buffer. If the developers of the solar field are amenable to collaborating with the City, an easement acquired for the path to parallel the planned access road along the eastern border of the Tomaszewki property and cross into the White Brook APR land to the north would result in no significant clearing of forest in the Giustina Conservation Area. If this easement within the Tomaszewski property was acquired, there is a fairly level, roughly 12,000 square-foot space next to the proposed solar array which could accommodate 9 parking spaces (including one universally accessible space) for people who may be interested in driving to the southern end of the nature path. Acquiring this easement for the path and parking lot is recommended to prevent clearing trees and to take advantage of the level ground in the Tomaszewski lot. Clearing 12,000 square feet of the Giustina Conservation Area for a parking lot would not only dramatically alter the ecological functioning and

Woodland Seating Area Tomaszewki

Left and above: The parking lot proposed for the solar accessible space, a kiosk with a trail map and a dog

Solar Field Crosswalk Plain Street

appearance of the forest, it would also be difficult and expensive due to the steep grade along the western edge of the Conservation Area. The benefits of providing a parking lot would need to be weighed against the additional economic and ecological costs of installing one within the forest.

There are currently no formal trails within the Giustina Conservation Area. As part of the effort to increase access to natural areas with the Shared-Use Nature path, a walking trail through the Conservation Area would allow residents to enjoy this currently unused open space. Walking Trail