City lowers speed limit for East Streetsboro Road section entering village, begins exit of MOU with Boston Heights

by Judy Stringer

May 21 city council meeting

In a 6-1 vote, Hudson City Council passed an ordinance that will lower the speed limit along East Streetsboro Street (state Route 303) from 35 mph to 30 mph between College Street and North Hayden Parkway.

Council member Skylar Sutton voted against the measure, saying that while he favors lowering speeds on that stretch, “30 is an odd number” for a speed limit.

“Most people will see the three and interpret it as 35,” he said. “I think what we’ll end up doing is issuing a lot of citations and fines and frustrating a lot of people without actually lowering the speed.”

Council President Chris Foster agreed that 30 was not the ideal outcome. Foster said the city asked the state if that portion of 303 could be lowered to 25 but was only permitted to go as low as 30.

“I would ask our police department to be lenient upfront in terms of warnings, rather than throwing out citations,” Foster said. “You rarely see 30.”

Council heard readings of several pieces of new legislation up for vote in June, including the second reading of an ordinance that would add Hudson-based youth organizations to the list of groups exempt from paying rental fees for the use of city-owned community rooms. All community groups are offered a discount on room rentals at Town Hall and Barlow Community Center. Those exempt from fees currently include senior groups, veterans groups, Hudson schools, the American Red Cross and the Hudson Community Service Association.

Council also heard the first reading of a resolution that, if passed, will repeal a 2008 memorandum of understanding between the city of Hudson and village of Boston Heights in which the entities agreed to “study, plan and set in motion” a cooperative agreement for the development of properties along the bordering Route 8 corridor.

At the May 14 city council workshop, Sutton explained that he requested the legislation to give “clarity” to property owners in the area.

“We have kind of left them in limbo,” he said. “It’s been 16 years [and] nothing has materialized between Boston Heights or us. I’m not saying nothing can materialize. We can certainly have those discussions, but we are in this weird limbo where there’s an MOU to create a plan but no plans ever formed.”

The MOU came to light most recently in October when Hudson was asked to provide water for a proposed Fireworks Planet store, which would be located in Boston Heights next to Sky Zone. The company owner and former Boston Heights Mayor Bill Goncy referenced the MOU as part of that request. Council ultimately declined the water connection.

Adding to Sutton’s May 14 comments, council member Chris Banweg said that any “mutual development agreement” should be “relevant and not 16 years old.”

Pickleball events

One piece of pending legislation – a resolution involving a new park facility reservation policy – was referred to the park board for further review. Council members discussed the need for a formal reservation policy at the May 14 workshop after several of them said residents complained about the public use of the Barlow pickleball courts being restricted over Memorial Day weekend due to a tournament.

The policy under consideration would require the community development department to review applications for events at the courts and limit use to 50% of the courts for no more than six hours per day and no more than two days per event. ∞