Citizen petition to rezone Phillips Place referred to Planning Board and legislative committee after residents raise density and notice concerns

The City Council voted Wednesday to refer a citizen petition to amend Chapter 350.4 (interpretation) and related rezoning language for parcels on Phillips Place to the Planning Board and to the council’s Legislative Matters Committee for review and public hearing.

Property owner Judy Tomasi spoke during public comment in support of the rezoning petition, asking the council to move the request forward promptly and to urge the Planning Board to postpone a related review scheduled for the next day. Tomasi said neighbors are "up in arms" about a proposed development on Phillips Place that she described as "monstrous," out of scale with an adjacent historic district on the National Register and likely to worsen parking and traffic.

Other speakers from the neighborhood urged more transparent notice. Tomasi and others said the 2022 zoning amendments that upzoned one parcel were difficult for residents to identify in the agenda and that standard public-notice practices were not followed, limiting citizen awareness when the earlier change occurred.

The councilor sponsoring the referral noted state law requires that proposed zoning ordinances be sent to the Planning Board for review before adoption. The referral motion passed and the council identified the steps required by statute and local rules, including required public notice periods; the councilor said she would coordinate scheduling with the Planning Director and the Legislative Matters Committee.

Ending: The Planning Board — and the Legislative Matters Committee — will hold public hearings as required by state law and city rules; if the Planning Board acts beforehand on the pending special permit for the development, that approval may affect the scope of the rezoning effort.