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Zoning panel recommends approval for 600‑unit Cabotville mill redevelopment after tax payment agreement and ODRC follow‑up
Summary
Developers presented updated responses to overlay‑district comments and a tax/water payment plan with the city; the zoning subcommittee recommended a special permit and approved requested waivers after receiving a signed payment agreement and committing to planning‑director sign‑off on outstanding overlay review items.
Developers seeking to convert the former Cabotville mill at 165 Front Street into a residential project that could include up to 600 apartments told the Chicopee Zoning subcommittee on May 28 they had executed a tax and water‑bill payment agreement with the city and addressed many overlay‑review comments; the subcommittee recommended approval and granted three technical waivers.
John Furman, civil engineer of record for the project, handed committee members a response‑to‑comment packet and said the development team had “entered into an agreement with the city for payment of those monies” that had been a major outstanding issue. Furman said many planning and infrastructure comments were construction‑phase items or could be addressed in revised plans and that a small number of items needed additional title or easement work.
City documents read into the record show a signed Tax and Water Bill Payment Plan Agreement dated May 21, 2025. The agreement requires the property owner (4 Perkins LLC) to pay fiscal year 2024 real‑estate and water/sewer arrears on or before July 1, 2025 (approximately $290,783.36 total for FY2024 items listed in the exhibit), to begin an installment plan for 2025 amounts on Jan. 1, 2026, and to pay FY2026 taxes in installments later in 2026. The agreement states that failure to make timely payments will return the property to default status and “a special permit may be revoked.”
Developers also requested three waivers under the mill conversion and commercial center overlay ordinance: (1) limited landscape‑screening exceptions for dumpster enclosures and some meter/transformer areas; (2) a parking reduction (the property alone cannot accommodate the 1,200 spaces that strict single‑family calculations would require; developers said they can deliver 637 spaces across on‑site and remote parcels and pointed to the unit mix — many studio and one‑bed units — as justification); and (3) a waiver on strict noise‑level standards tied to building materials and equipment location.
Furman and the project team said they had supplied title and survey information to address outstanding easement questions; planning staff will require a final set of corrected plans and a satisfactory confirmation from the planning director that Overlay Development Review Committee (ODRC) items are resolved before construction permits issue.
The committee voted to recommend the special permit and approved the three waivers; Councillor Wagner abstained on the final votes. Members stipulated that all conditions of the May 21 tax/water agreement remain satisfied and requested planning‑director confirmation that outstanding ODRC comments are addressed as conditions of any approval.
Ending: The subcommittee’s recommendation moves the project to the full City Council for consideration; the project team and city staff said they will complete final plan corrections, easement recordation and required inspections before construction permits are issued.
