By John Valinch
As City Manager Tom Ambrosino recently noted, Chelsea is a dynamic city that is undergoing a transformative period. Perhaps the most discussed and contested question worth analyzing during this process is how, where, and to what degree Chelsea will undergo development. The Chelsea Waterfront is one area where work is already underway to discuss a comprehensive approach to conceptualizing the future of the space.
Over the past 20-plus years, Chelsea Green Space has engaged the community in efforts to thwart negative developments such as a power plant, ethanol “bomb” trains and other environmental and public health threats. But outside of community-supported processes, has the city, state or any other entity asked us, the residents, what we want for our waterfront? Now is our unique opportunity to act. Chelsea Green Space encourages your participation and involvement.
Recently, the City of Chelsea has contracted the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) to begin the visioning and planning process for the development of the waterfront. As part of the MAPC’s process, meetings with community residents are now being conducted in order to build consensus and discuss the goals, concerns, and ideas that residents have regarding the opportunities on the waterfront. On March 3, MAPC met with members of the Chelsea Green Space Committee to begin an initial conversation on perspectives on and intentions for this visioning process.
On Wednesday, March 23, Chelsea residents will have their next opportunity to meet with each other and MAPC to continue this conversation on waterfront visioning. A public workshop will be facilitated by MAPC at the Chelsea Senior Center at 10 Riley Way from 6-8 p.m., and will serve to gather input from community residents as well as allow residents to hear proposals from MAPC on developmental possibilities. In particular, MAPC will be providing examples of potential plans to develop the waterfront in such a way so as to balance various stakeholder interests.
At the conclusion of this series of meetings, the MAPC will be tasked with consolidating the information gathered during the various sessions and producing a proposal to be submitted to the city for approval. As MAPC is contracted by the City of Chelsea for this monumental work, it is of the utmost importance that residents attend the meetings to produce an authentic voice that reflects our current residents’ needs and perspectives on the future of the waterfront space.
The November municipal elections here in Chelsea demonstrated a resounding commitment to a particular thematic issue: development. With the new council now in office for just over three months, the time is now upon us within the community to engage with our councillors, each other, and MAPC to raise the standards by which our community mobilizes and communicates on issues of development. In order to ensure that Chelsea develops equitably, sustainably, and transparently, residents must become informed on and active in the various initiatives throughout the city.
Building our community does not stop at your polling location with the official you elected, but is instead an active process of planning, outreach, and consensus building. If re-imagining our waterfront is important to you, clear your calendars for just two hours on March 23 to engage in this timely and essential conversation. Let’s build a waterfront that works for our community, protects our residents, and expands upon Chelsea’s resource network.