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The Patriot Ledger
QUINCY - published 5-24-05
The city is poised to enact its most ambitious legislative package aimed at redeveloping Quincy Center.
Approval by the City Council is virtually guaranteed now that the council’s ordinance subcommittee voted 7-0 last night to approve an overhaul of downtown building rules. The revisions are designed to revitalize the city’s once-thriving downtown.
A formal plan is expected to be presented to state regulators next week.
“We’ve refined it in a way that’s going to target development in areas where we want to develop,” said Ward 5 Councilor Douglas Gutro, the author of the most substantial changes to an original proposal and the council representative for much of Quincy Center.
The biggest change approved by the council would shrink the size of the area originally proposed to allow 15-story buildings. As approved by the council, the new height limits would apply only to a downtown nerve center including the Hancock parking lot and the stretch of Hancock Street between Granite and School streets, but not any of the outlying neighborhoods bordering downtown.
Council members also voted to require more parking spaces per bedroom in any new development in the area, and approved language changes to the original proposal to cement an emphasis on creating affordable housing and preserving historical landmarks downtown.
The ultimate aim of the zoning changes is to attract a big-money developer to undertake one or more major projects in Quincy Center, which would include mixed-use development, combining housing with retail space. In addition to changing density and height restrictions, the new zoning rules would give much of the permitting authority to the city’s planning board in an effort to streamline the regulatory process.
At the end of last night’s four-hour downtown debate, there was plenty of lofty talk from councilors, several of whom called the downtown package the most important piece of legislation they’ll ever approve.
“I don’t think this can be undervalued or overestimated,” said Ward 3 Councilor Kevin Coughlin, who chairs the council’s ordinance committee.
Still, Councilor at large Joseph Finn offered a measure of caution, saying he wasn’t entirely convinced that the recommendations outlined in the zoning proposal provided strict enough guidelines for downtown’s future. He pitched a concept that would include a series of development guidelines and goals established by design consultants.
The measure was not acted on last night, but could be heard again when the full council hears the issue on June 6.
The zoning changes are part of a two-tiered development strategy. The second portion is to qualify the city for a newly created state tax incentive program that could help pay for downtown improvements like new roads and parking garages.
Called “district improvement financing,” the incentive plan would allow the city to use anticipated taxes from new development in Quincy Center to pay for public improvements downtown, specifically the long-planned Quincy Center Concourse.
The council has already approved the foundation for the financing package, which administration officials expect to be discussed during a May 31 meeting of the state authority that needs to approve the plan, the Economic Assistance Coordinating Council.
A council subcommittee last night also approved a $150,000 spending request by Phelan for several downtown development items. The money would primarily pay for the continuing service of the city’s urban planning consultants, Good, Clancy, and Associates of Boston, but would also go toward paying for a new parking study in Quincy Center.
Council President Francis McCauley made several efforts to stop the spending requests, saying the city has over the decades already spent enough. The effort was shot down by other councilors, who suggested that money needs to be spent if any vision of redeveloping downtown is going to become reality.
“We’re not winning the battle downtown right now, and as Quincy Center goes, so will the rest of the city,” said Councilor at large John Keenan.
Christopher Walker may be reached at .
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