Northfield Select Board approves East Street closure for Good Measure event on June 21

The Northfield Select Board voted to allow Good Measure to close East Street for a private event on June 21, approving the applicant’s plan to close the street and parking from about 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. Scott Turner, representing Good Measure, told the board the restaurant opens at 11:30 a.m. and has a live band scheduled from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., and that the later end time was intended to allow an orderly shutdown after the band finishes.

The closure request drew discussion about traffic routing, emergency access, business impacts and required facilities. Board members and staff asked for a detour and signage plan to steer traffic through the Northfield Savings Bank parking lot for drivers coming up Turkey Hill and King Street, and for signs directing visitors to the pool. Turner said the event plan calls for collapsible barricades with snow-fence panels on stanchions that can be folded to reopen lanes for emergency vehicles if needed.

Board members raised several operational concerns. A town official noted there are easements allowing public access through the Town Center parking area and warned the town must treat any detour like a road; the speaker said it falls “under Muncie t 8 20” as stated in the meeting. Staff and board members asked whether ambulance access and turning radii would be adequate, and whether the event would exceed thresholds that require additional emergency services. Turner said he expected fewer than 200 attendees and that the town’s threshold for requiring an ambulance squad was about 500, so he believed the event was below that level.

The board also discussed restroom capacity and temporary facilities. Turner said the two adjacent wastewater-permitted buildings provide four bathrooms he estimated could serve “at least 300 people,” and that he would bring porta‑toilets if needed. A board member noted that adding short-term parking for other downtown businesses during the event would require an ordinance and therefore could not be implemented as part of the closure permit.

After discussion of signage, parking guidance and contingency plans for emergency access, a motion to approve the East Street closure request was moved, seconded and adopted by voice vote; the chair declared “the ayes have it.” The board did not record an individual roll-call vote in the transcript excerpted here.

Next steps discussed verbally included adding “pool” to detour signage and following the construction-detour pattern used previously; the board did not record additional formal conditions or follow-up assignments in the transcript excerpt.

Notes: The applicant requested the closure to provide space for guests and a live band; the plan described shutting down at 10 a.m. and reopening by 8 p.m., with the band playing 4–7 p.m. The transcript includes questions about liability for routing traffic over private property, adequacy of turning radius and whether additional sanitary or emergency services would be required.