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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2019-11-23 PB Report_Galen rezoning_2019-11-13 (002)Board Members: John B. Hawes, Jr., Chairman Jeffrey W. Brown Janet Buck Gary Shaw Payson R. Whitney, III PLANNING BOARD REPORT This Report provides the Planning Board’s recommendation to the Honorable Town Council for the Council’s public hearing on a Zoning Map Amendment for the property located at 70, 78, 84-86 and 88 Galen Street. I. PUBLIC NOTICE A. Procedural Summary As required by the Watertown Zoning Ordinance § 9.22, notice of the Planning Board’s November 13, 2019 hearing was given as follows: • Published in the newspaper of record (Watertown TAB) on October 25 and November 1, 2019 • Posted at the Town Administration Building on October 25, 2019, and B. Planning Board & Town Council Public Notice “The Planning Board of the City known as the Town of Watertown will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, November 13, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. in the Richard E. Mastrangelo Memorial Council Chamber, Second Floor, Administration Building, 149 Main Street, Watertown, MA.”, and “The Town Council of the City known as the Town of Watertown will conduct a public hearing on Tuesday, November 26, 2019 at a meeting starting at 7:15 p.m. in the Town Council Chamber, Administration Building, 149 Main Street, Watertown, MA 02472.”, as follows: “Zoning Map Amendment: A request to amend the Watertown Zoning Map by removing the parcels of land located at 70, 78, 84-86, and 88 Galen Street from the Limited Business District and into the I-2 (Industrial-2) Zoning District in keeping with abutting properties.” ZONING AMENDMENT: Zoning Map Amendment for 70, 78, 84-86, and 88 Galen Street DATE OF FIRST READING: Referred August 13 and on October22, 2019 DATE OF PLANNING BOARD HEARING: November 13, 2019 PLANNING BOARD RECOMMENDATION: Adoption (4-1) C. Staff Findings and Recommendation: The property owner of 70, 78, 84-86 and 88 Galen Street has requested that their property be rezoned from its current Limited Business (LB) Zoning District, to the Industrial-2 (I-2) Zoning District. As is evident from the attached mapping, the request is to create a consistent zoning district across all of the applicant’s property in this district. The history of the zoning in this area reflects an opportunity to have some commercial or retail use along the frontage of Galen Street, while the industrial zoning reflected more of a manufacturing history along Water Street. The I-2 zone has also evolved, and the range of uses that are allowed today is broader than when the area was originally zoned, such that today’s I-2 zoning is more business oriented and less focused on heavy industry. The applicant has indicated an intent to develop the assembled acreage with uses that would include office, lab, and small-scale manufacturing. The Bio lab space would be the intended use of the space, distributed between multiple buildings. Currently the site contains .87 acres in the LB zone, while the total property is approximately 5 acres. The proposal would change the zoning map so the entire area would be in one zone. The Strategic Framework for Economic Development, adopted in 2011, made specific recommendations regarding the “South Square” area, listing it as one of 5 areas called out as “Development Opportunity Focus Areas”. This document recognized these areas of Town as areas that contained unutilized or underutilized properties which represented locations that would benefit from economic (re)development. In the ensuing years most of these areas have seen that investment. A change to the Zoning Map for this block will allow the vision outlined in the Strategic Framework to be better implemented with consistent rules for the uses/buildings under one zone. In the 2015 Comprehensive Plan, the property is shown on the Future Land Use map as Office/Industrial Mixed Use, which is also consistent with the proposed use of the property and the proposed zoning. The Comprehensive Plan supports the vision contained in the Strategic Framework for Economic Development and envisions the redevelopment of this area. The proximity to the MBTA Bus Yard has also been noted. With the rezone, there is an opportunity to consider a mutually beneficial reimagining of the MBTA Yard, which could result in significant improvements to the mass transit hub that exists in the area. There is also a concept to realign Water Street at Galen Street to create better geometry and a safer intersection. The rezoning and redevelopment of this property will allow for many of these ideas and concepts to be fleshed out. The potential to resolve or improve some existing issues in this area is more viable with a consistent zoning district, although specifics are yet to be determined. Based on this information, staff supports a recommendation by the Planning Board to the Town Council of approval of the requested change in zoning for 70, 78, 84-86 and 88 Galen Street, so that all of the applicant’s properties in this area would be I-2 zoned. D. Planning Board Deliberation and Recommendation: At the Planning Board, public testimony was mixed with Board discussion. One member of the Board felt that the Town was not doing enough proactive planning and wanted substantially more information about the future project. Other Board Members identified some possible issues with development (but that that process would be heard by the Planning Board at the time the project is submitted) for this site and area, but acknowledged the Staff’s report and that this would allow for more flexibility in redevelopment scenarios. There was caution suggested in regard to retail and that traffic could be a big issue with any future development project. There was also discussion about trying to direct Council to consider further review of the amendment. A Board member identified that several members of the Council were in the audience and Staff suggested that it was up to the Council to decide if further review at a subcommittee level would be considered. Staff also noted that the change of zoning of about 30,000 square feet could allow 15,000 more square feet in total development but that the requirement for additional open space would offset the potential increase. The property owner and team also identified that the zoning change does not change the total square feet of development but allows an opportunity for a better layout of the buildings. There were five people who gave public testimony. One resident identified concerns about safe public access to Charles River along Nonantum Road and also had questions in regard to potential reuse and demolition on the property. Two residents provided general support for the project with caution about the success and use of retail and potential use of Aldrich Road. Councilor Feltner identified concerns about zoning before planning, that there is no process for very large projects, that things need to change (Zoning) and design guidelines, and that a Zoning overlay would be better. The Board acknowledged the request, petitioner, and the staff findings, and voted (4-1) to recommend approval of the requested Zoning Map Amendment as submitted.