Lowell planning board recommends rezoning River’s Edge to allow 16 duplex condominiums

The Lowell Planning Board on March 3 recommended that the City Council rezone land in the River’s Edge neighborhood from suburban multifamily to the traditional two-family zoning district, a nonbinding move intended to allow 16 duplex buildings with a total of 32 units.

The recommendation, which the board approved 5-0, would restore the final phase of the long-running River’s Edge residential development to a lower-density plan proponents said better matches the existing neighborhood and the developer’s financing model. The City Council is scheduled to consider the rezoning on March 11; the planning board’s vote is advisory only.

John Gary, attorney for Residence First Development Corporation, told the planning board the applicant owns a roughly 12.5-acre parcel at the rear of the River’s Edge development and is seeking the rezoning so the last phase can be built as 16 duplex-style buildings. “We are respectfully re requesting a positive recommendation to the city council,”…