Residents offer up uses for former St. Gerard’s site

Initial ideas for the reuse of the former St. Gerard’s Church property are focused on multi-purpose, community-minded uses for the buildings and a mixture of passive and active recreation options for the adjacent land.

Source: St. Gerard’s on Facebook

The early consensus, based on the roughly 200 survey responses submitted to date, shows an opposition to private development, particularly for condos and apartments, although a few suggestions have surfaced for age-restricted affordable housing.

However, Town Administrator Charles Doody told attendees at Tuesday night’s public forum that the Select Board does not intend to become a landlord.

Approximately 65 people — a better than expected turnout — gathered in the CHS cafeteria for the forum, which was hosted by the St. Gerard’s Reuse Committee — the 10-member body tasked with identifying the best possible uses for the former church site on Washington Street. Doody, who heads up the committee, facilitated the meeting along with fellow committee member Amanda Ryder.

A second public session will be offered via Zoom this coming Monday, March 13, at 7 p.m. (link available on the town website), and all stakeholders are urged to complete the online survey available on the committee’s webpage at town.canton.ma.us/sgrc. The committee also plans to post a video of the church property and rectory on its website as soon as this week.

Doody and Ryder said they plan to continue data collection over the next few months — with a goal of collecting 2,000 survey responses by June. They would then take the summer to write their report before presenting their findings to the Select Board in September. The board could then vote to approve one of the committee’s recommendations or send the ideas to the May 2024 town meeting for voter consideration.

While Building Inspector Ed Walsh noted at Tuesday’s forum that the church and rectory remain in good structural shape, he did recommend allowing some temporary uses to keep the buildings functioning. Some of the temporary uses that have been suggested include overflow space for the Department of Elder and Human Services, a venue for Kids Camp, or possible meeting space for community nonprofit groups.

Long-term uses for the 9.2-acre property suggested at the forum included a green meeting space, a new and expanded senior center, a new home for the Canton Food Pantry, a preschool/kindergarten center, offices for school administration, and a public art center. Other suggested uses included a community youth center, performing arts center, restaurant, and various outdoor uses such as a public garden, dog park, town green, ball fields and playgrounds.

As for zoning implications, Walsh said if the property is kept by the town, it could be used for any purpose subject to a hearing of the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). However, if the town were to sell the property, the new owner would be subject to the existing zoning bylaws and would need to seek town meeting approval to pursue certain uses.

Ryder said besides Monday’s virtual meeting, the committee plans to have a presence at upcoming public events in order to connect with more residents urge survey participation.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Mar 10 2023. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.