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Council committee backs rezoning of 10,000‑square‑foot Mount Vernon lot, orders public hearing
Summary
A Lawrence council subcommittee recommended rezoning a 10,000‑square‑foot parcel in the Mount Vernon neighborhood from Industrial 1 to Residential 1 and voted to order a public hearing after staff said the lot cannot practically be used for industrial purposes.
A council zoning subcommittee voted to recommend rezoning a 10,000‑square‑foot parcel in the Mount Vernon neighborhood from Industrial 1 to Residential 1 and ordered a public hearing on the change.
Planning staff member Mister McCarthy told the committee the parcel fronts on Madison Street and is effectively inaccessible from the adjacent Lawrence Industrial Park. “It has no value as industrial land because it is the back portion of a part of land that is off of Powers Street,” McCarthy said, adding the lot was created in 1969 and is “a buildable lot in District 1.”
The recommendation matters because rezoning would allow a single‑family house to be built on the lot; under its current Industrial 1 classification, the property cannot host a house or an accessory dwelling. McCarthy said the planning board held a hearing and gave a unanimous favorable recommendation to change the zoning. He also addressed spot‑zoning concerns, saying the parcel sits at the edge of two district types and qualifies under one of the exemptions to spot zoning.
Councilor Del Rosario moved the committee’s favorable recommendation and to order a public hearing; Vice Chair Selena Reyes seconded. In a recorded roll call, Councilor Fidelina Santiago, Councilor Gregory DeRosario, Vice Chair Selena Reyes and Chairman Mark LaPlain voted yes. The motion carried.
During discussion committee members asked about surrounding uses and visibility. Councilor Bill Rosario asked what businesses occupy Powers Street; McCarthy said several buildings owned by Brooks Property are there and described a roughly 20‑foot elevation change between the industrial buildings and the Madison Street lot. McCarthy said the elevation and physical access make industrial reuse unrealistic.
The committee’s action sends the rezoning proposal to the full council for the public‑hearing phase required by the city’s zoning ordinance. No final rezoning takes effect until the full council completes its public hearing and vote.
The applicant, identified in the record as Mr. Vasquez, attended the meeting but did not speak at length; McCarthy said the owner purchased the lot when he bought his nearby home.
The subcommittee instructed staff to place the item on the full council agenda and to proceed with the statutory public‑hearing process.
