Aldermen take action on Pride Festival, Energy Committee, Front Street townhouses

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Above: Layout for the 2021 Queen City Pride Festival

MANCHESTER, N.H. – In the lead-up to Tuesday’s Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BMA) meeting, the BMA Committee on Public Safety Health and Traffic recommended a request by the Queen City Pride Festival to use the Arms Parking Lot from Friday, June 18 to Sunday, June 20.

While the event did occur last year, there were concerns with the number of people expected to attend and whether participants at the event could properly social distance and avoid significant COVID-19 transmission.

This year, there were no such concerns, with the event expected to draw approximately 1,500 attendees.

Stark Brewery and Cotton, two adjacent restaurants, had no issues with the request.

More information on the event can be found at the Queen City Pride website.


Prior to the BMA Committee on Public Safety, the BMA Special Committee on Energy Contracts and Related Activities balked at a proposed Manchester Environmental and Energy Advisory Committee.

Anthony Sapienza (Ward 5), told Robert Backus, spokesperson for the group of citizens spearheading the idea, that he supported the idea more before the presentation by Backus, which had technical difficulties.

Other members of the committee felt that the city is already pursuing many of the initiatives that the committee would assist the city with.

Additionally, members of the committee asked Backus if the citizens asking for the committee could create a comparable initiative outside of city government, comparable to Manchester Proud’s role with the Manchester School Department.

Backus replied that such a route would likely find disinterest among the volunteers seeking the committee.


After the BMA Committee on Public Safety, the BMA approved a zoning change for a parcel of land on Front Street, converting the parcel from Residential-Suburban to Residential-Multi Family. The approval also came with a slight adjustment of the northern boundary line of the parcel, which an attorney for the owners of that parcel had no problem with.

The parcel of land, located just south of Hackett Hill Road, is the site of a proposed 70-unit townhouse development.

No one spoke in opposition to the proposal, it now goes to the BMA Committee on Bills on Second Reading.

 

About this Author

Andrew Sylvia

Assistant EditorManchester Ink Link

Born and raised in the Granite State, Andrew Sylvia has written approximately 10,000 pieces over his career for outlets across Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. On top of that, he's a licensed notary and licensed to sell property, casualty and life insurance, he's been a USSF trained youth soccer and futsal referee for the past six years and he can name over 60 national flags in under 60 seconds according to that flag game app he has on his phone, which makes sense because he also has a bachelor's degree in geography (like Michael Jordan). He can also type over 100 words a minute on a good day.