News

Lowe's proposal closer to a lock

Rezoning needs final OK on Jan. 22

By Chris Cassidy
STAFF WRITER
Published: January 9, 2009

SALEM ¬­— The zoning change required for a new Lowe's to come to town picked up the support of the City Council last night.

Councilors Paul Prevey and Steve Pinto — who opposed the original version of the proposal — endorsed it during last night's meeting, ensuring a necessary two-thirds majority and allowing it to pass by a vote of 9-2.

It now heads to a subcommittee and must be approved a second time when the council meets again on Jan. 22.

The vote marked a preliminary victory for Mayor Kim Driscoll, who had been pushing the project — a new Lowe's and a reconstructed Walmart on Highland Avenue — because of the added jobs and tax revenue it's expected to bring.

The support of Prevey and Pinto was crucial. An earlier version of the zoning change failed to achieve the needed two-thirds majority by just one vote last year. Driscoll introduced a new, more restrictive version of the zoning change a few weeks ago, aimed at addressing councilors' concerns — mainly the threat of density and overdevelopment in other similarly zoned pieces of land.

Prevey and Pinto said last night the revised version eased their earlier reservations.

"Putting these restrictions in place almost forces developers to come up with a good, mixed-use plan," Prevey said.

"I'm comfortable with the restrictions the mayor put in," Pinto said.

Councilors Arthur Sargent and Michael Sosnowski were the lone dissenting votes. During a public hearing Wednesday night, critics argued the zoning change would still lead to dense developments, particularly large residential complexes that drain city resources.

The zoning change is complicated. It allows developers to build both businesses and residences or a combination of single- and multiple-family homes specifically on pieces of land zoned as large business parks.

Driscoll's revised plan places further restrictions. Residential buildings can't occupy more than 50 percent of the land area or, in the case of mixed-use buildings, 50 percent of the square footage.

Developments must also be limited to four stories stretching no higher than 50 feet.

The proposal now heads to a City Council subcommittee, where members will look over minutes from a 1985 meeting of the Planning Board that Sosnowski introduced last night.

Both he and Sargent claim that the minutes show Planning Board members consciously disapproved of a similar zoning change 24 years ago. (Supporters had previously claimed that it was nothing more than an unintended oversight that the zoning change was never enacted in the first place).

"We're urged to listen to experts," Sargent said. "I'd urge people to listen to these experts."

Barring any dramatic changes, councilors are expected to pass the zoning change once and for all when it meets again in two weeks.

"No dillydallying," said Ward 7 Councilor Joe O'Keefe. "Let's go forward."