PEA Properties Eyed for Town Parking Lot

The Academy may sell several faculty residence buildings on High Street to the town of Exeter to  clear the land and build a new parking lot in hopes of ameliorating traffic and parking issues downtown. While some faculty noted that the sale would generate significant revenue and benefit the local community, others expressed concern that redirected traffic would interfere with Grainger Observatory operations. According to Darren Winham, the town of Exeter’s Economic Development Director, this project would cost the town a total of $1,696,000: $1,216,000 to purchase 35 High St. and 29 High St., and $480,000 to construct the parking lot itself, which would include 70 to 88 spaces.Director of Facilities Management Mark Leighton noted that negotiations are still ongoing and no transactions have been made. “The Academy has not agreed to sell any land to the town of Exeter. We have only agreed to have discussions with the town regarding a small piece of property on High Street,” he said.The parking lot would be accessible at the southeast end of Portsmouth Avenue through the four-way light, and would potentially include green space.Winham identified the greater efficacy of additional ground-level parking spaces compared to underground parking as an anticipated benefit of the proposal, in addition to reduced downtown traffic at a popular intersection. Winham noted, however, that potential drawbacks of the project might include a loss in tax revenue from existing parcels, the demolition of six residential units and the historic 29 High St. building, as well as a community perception of “government overreach.”John Blackwell, Director of the Grainger Observatory, voiced concern that brights lights and loud noises from the parking lot would disrupt astronomical research. “Any additional lighting in the surrounding area will make the surrounding air brighter and take away from our ability to see faint objects by ‘drowning them out,’” Blackwell said.Leighton recognized the importance of Blackwell’s concerns in an official statement on Sept. 23. “The Academy is aware of the town’s initiative of addressing parking in the downtown area and is willing to have discussions with the town on selling a portion of the Academy property on High St. as long as the future use and lighting of the property does not impact the Academy’s daily operations, specifically the Grainger Observatory,” he said.As a possible solution, Blackwell suggested the installation of downward-pointing lights and low-pressure sodium lamps to prevent interference with observatory operations. “Our equipment is very sensitive, with the ability to see faint objects, some 10,000 times fainter than the human eye can see,” he said. “They must be sure to prohibit any light from going outward or upward.”Others were hesitant to support the sale due to the historic value of properties on High St. “We live in a small, historic town. A parking structure would threaten the balance between architectural preservation and convenience,” Modern Languages Instructor Viviana Santos said.Medical Director Katharina Lilly hopes that redirecting traffic to the parking lot will improve student safety. “I worry about students and pedestrians navigating the really busy campus that intertwines with a lot of main roads in town,” she said. “My role on campus is to think about prevention and keeping people healthy. I think a lot about potential hazards for the Exeter community, and one of those places would be with traffic patterns.”History Instructor William Jordan suggested that selling this land may worsen an already urgent need for faculty housing. “Not all faculty are housed, like they are at other boarding schools. Yet the burden on faculty has gone up in terms of what's expected from us as advisors and dormitory faculty: more hours of monitoring,” he said. “If the Academy is going to sell High Street, maybe the proceeds from the sale of the property can be used to acquire housing in a place that’s closer to campus.”In the meantime, Jordan stated that another consideration in deciding whether to proceed with this project should be the impact on town residents. “If this was something that the town needs and uses, I’m in favor of the school doing its best to be a good citizen for the town,” he said.However, a survey posted on the Exeter town website revealed a divide in town sentiments, with 65.2% of respondents opposing, 22.7% supporting and 12% describing themselves as undecided on the project. On the other hand, 43.8% of residents agreed that parking is a problem in Downtown Exeter.The majority of Exeter residents who attended a town hall discussion last Wednesday did not appear to support the proposition; all nine citizens who spoke up attributed their hesitation to environmental concerns, noise pollution, the inevitable demolition of historical property and monetary concerns.Exeter resident Chris Surret noticed that in a Google Earth photo, parking lots just two minutes away from the location of the proposed lot were underused. “Imagine a Saturday, downtown Exeter was packed, streets were lined bumper to bumper with cars,” he said. “But two minutes away, all the other lots were completely empty.”Another resident Nick Solitino noted that the properties in question represent a “gateway to the historical district” of Exeter. “Change is inevitable, but [this] isn’t the right way to do it,” Solitino said.Reflecting on the lot, Santos voiced that the Exeter community should give serious thought to where a new parking lot would rank in the town’s current needs and priorities. “At the moment, there is a worker shortage in the area. More restaurants and stores means more jobs, but if we have no workers to take them, then all this growth will result in empty storefronts and failed businesses,” she said. “Rents in Exeter are high—we should really be looking at how to support our area entrepreneurs before we commit to tearing down houses to make space for a parking lot.” ______________________________