The enduring battle over development continues

Newburyport

Redevelopment officials, citizens, at odds over waterfront

By Taryn Plumb / Globe Correspondent

November 14, 2012 

The debate over whether to develop or conserve land has erupted anew in Newburyport.

As the Newburyport Redevelopment Authority  moves ahead with its proposed plan to incorporate commercial and residential development into two remaining open parcels on the downtown riverfront, a grass-roots group is preparing a flier campaign, gathering signatures for a petition, and exploring potential legal issues related to the properties.

“So many cities have lost their access to the waterfront, and lost their waterfront,” said Lon Hachmeister, vice chair of Citizens for an Open Waterfront. “At this point, putting in more buildings doesn’t make sense. Building isn’t progress.”

Quite the contrary, according to the redevelopment authority. “There’s still a real need for some level of commercial activity on the waterfront for it to be an active and viable space year-round,” said James Shanley, chairman of the authority.

Clashes over the waterfront have spawned several legal battles in past decades, with residents launching campaigns to preserve a handful of ways to the Merrimack River and to block a proposed hotel.

Now, the redevelopment authority, which has partnered with MassDevelopment, is proposing a 69,850-square-foot, mixed-use project on the two downtown waterfront parcels that together make up 4.2 acres. The lots are now used for parking and straddle a small public park.

As envisioned, the site would encompass two three-story buildings on either side of the park, with retail, restaurants, upper-level condominiums, and 66 underground parking spots. The development also would include two landscaped, paved parking lots with 191 spaces, as well as an expansion of the public park and rail trail.

The estimated cost is $25 million to $30 million, according to Shanley. There would be an option to either sell the two parcels, he said, or to enter into a long-term lease with the developer or property manager.

The authority is putting together a request for proposals for the development, which would include feasibility studies. Shanley said it expects to have the forms available within the next 60 days.

“We would like to keep things moving,” he said. “For the community’s sake, sooner is better than later.”

The citizens group, however, would prefer that the process be slowed down to allow for more analysis and exploration of other options.

Chaired by Newburyport resident Elizabeth Heath, the group has gathered more than 2,000 signatures in support of an open waterfront, and it also plans to distribute 6,000 informational brochures.

Their concerns include: The buildings would be overwhelmingly large; parking would be diminished; river views would be blocked or eliminated; and historic open space — as well as a long-cherished community site for activities, festivals, concerts, or simple walking, lounging, and sunbathing — would be lost forever.

Rather than having a sanctuary away from the city, it would be like “bringing the city into the park,” said Hachmeister, who lives in Newbury but visits the park regularly, and what’s left of the open space would essentially become a front yard for condos.

Joanie Purinton, the group’s community liaison and also a Newbury resident, agreed that the proposal is “overpowering a small park, turning it into a retail mall.”

Countering that, Shanley said there is going to be “a lot of preservation of viewscapes” in the development, as well as a much better and more organized level of public access, and sufficient parking. In fact, he contended — with the exception of a handful of “peak days” — there is an excess capacity of parking in Newburyport.

Meanwhile, the benefits of such a development are numerous, he said. Having residents downtown in a walkable environment is “the most sustainable green thing you can do,” and the development would add to the tax base without encumbering the city with much cost.

He stressed that the plan is just a concept at this point, and that the numbers are not “hard and fast.”

Ultimately, he called the proposal a compromise: “We tried to do our best to listen to everybody.”

“It’s not 100 percent open,” he said. “We don’t believe that’s feasible, or in the best interest of the downtown.”

But members of the citizens group feel quite the opposite. They’d like to see a mixture of a park, landscaped parking (of a permeable surface; not asphalt, to allow for drainage), and space that can be used for a variety of purposes. According to Heath, the group is working on a list of alternative funding sources for park upkeep.

“This is a historic harbor,” said Purinton. “There are so few historic harbors left where you can go down to the sea and experience what’s past.”

But Shanley said the goal is to reconnect Newburyport with that historical past.

“The NRA firmly believes that it’s a good project. We’re moving forward,” he said. “It will help connect the downtown to the waterfront.”

Original story link here.

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And a previous story I did about this in April...

NEWBURYPORT

Open land debate renewed

Group opposes city on any development of waterfront lots

By Taryn Plumb Globe Correspondent

April 12, 2012 

The enduring and contentious debate over what to do with the city’s remaining undeveloped waterfront parcels - build on them or leave them open - has flared up again.

The Newburyport Redevelopment Authority, supported by Mayor Donna Holaday, is in the preliminary stages of analyzing options for retail, dining, and residential development on 4.2 acres of downtown riverfront that now serves as dirt-and-gravel public parking lots.

In response, some residents and other locals involved with regional preservation efforts have reestablished the Committee for an Open Waterfront, which has fought development on that site in the past, most recently a hotel in the late 1980s. The group prefers to have the area kept open to preserve the view, public access, parking, and, potentially, an expanded public park.

“Any additional building on the waterfront is damaging and inadmissible,’’ said Jim Critchlow, a member of the committee who has lived in the city for more than 25 years. “The open space of the waterfront is the jewel in the crown of Newburyport.’’

But not all share that view, and the town Redevelopment Authority, which manages the property, has long eyed it for development. Most recently, the authority signed an agreement with the state agency MassDevelopment to formulate requests for proposals for development possibilities on the site. It is also working with consulting firms, including Providence-based Union Studio, and is sharing $25,000 in consulting costs with the city.

The goal is to have a proposal request ready by midsummer, and host a public input meeting sometime this spring that would include a site walk. The Redevelopment Authority’s next public meeting is April 18.

“It’s important to state that we’re at the preliminary stages of putting this together,’’ said authority chairman James Shanley, a former city councilor. “There is no proposal at the table.’’

Ultimately, “we are years out,’’ he said.

The Redevelopment Authority, which was established by state law in 1960, is currently determining the possibilities for the property, which was active commercial space for hundreds of years until the 1960s, according to Shanley.

Through that process, they will assess local zoning and the state’s Public Waterfront Act, as well as parking requirements and five preserved “ways to the river’’ that cross the parcel.

Shanley confirmed that the group is looking at mixed-use options, including retail, restaurants, and residences, as well as multistoried buildings. It is not exploring options for a hotel, he said.

“We’re trying to improve the waterfront and make it a more vital place, year-round,’’ he said. However, he stressed that “nothing we’re proposing, or even thinking about, is going to preclude anybody from enjoying the waterfront.’’

Holaday agreed, calling herself a “strong proponent’’ of an open waterfront.

Although the city and the redevelopment authority have long “been at odds’’ about the disposition of the site, she said, she sees the current partnership as a means to identify property that can be used for “very controlled and very limited development’’ to ultimately finance the creation of a maritime park, and to also reduce parking.

Those are goals that would be in line with the goals of the citizen committee.

Ideally, the group would like to see the parking lots converted to grassy, tree-lined open space with paved walkways.

“Downtown Newburyport doesn’t need more condos and stores,’’ said member Lon Hachmeister, a Newbury resident and frequent Newburyport visitor.

Much like the proposal, the group is still in its preliminary stages: It plans to circulate a petition, and has been meeting every other Sunday at 6 p.m. at the Grog Restaurant.

Members have so far expressed concerns about the effect on established businesses should more competition be introduced in the way of new stores, a further strain on parking should spots be eliminated, as well as the impact on tourism if the view is blocked by development.

“Whenever you go to a city, one of the things you remember most is the open space,’’ said Critchlow, a retired foreign policy worker for the federal government who traveled all over the world for his job. “I would hate to see us give that up here in Newburyport.’’

But Shanley says that many of the group’s concerns are unfounded.

“What they’re saying is fundamentally a zero-sum game argument: That if something new shows up, then something old must go. That’s really not how economies work,’’ he said.

He pointed to nearby Portsmouth, where new restaurants and stores are introduced “all the time. . . . It adds, it gives people options and choices, which creates more of a destination.’’

And, while Hachmeister said that “everyone we talk to agrees’’ with the group’s stance, Shanley said that hasn’t been his experience.

“It’s not accurate to say that they speak for everybody in Newburyport,’’ he said.

Again, original story link here.

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