Planning Board approves 80-unit mixed-use at 357 Pawtucket Street with conditions

Lowell Planning Board approved site plan review and a special permit for an 80-unit mixed-use building at 357 Pawtucket Street during its Jan. 23, 2025 meeting. The project was filed by Franco American Holdings LLC and requires special-permit relief for more than 11 residential units and site-plan review for development with more than three residential units.

The board and the applicant told members they had addressed outstanding department comments and updated plans since the project’s earlier hearing on Jan. 6. David Jordan, civil engineer and land surveyor with Green and Peterson, described plan revisions including landscape changes requested by DPD, bicycle parking and responses to technical engineering comments. "We are providing bike storage in 3 locations in the upper level garage," Jordan said, and the team added public bike racks adjacent to the proposed corner commercial space.

The board’s nut graf: the project advances a large, mixed-use residential building in the Traditional Mixed Use district but sites and construction must meet final agency reviews. DPD staff indicated they are in agreement with the updated landscaping plan, which replaces a hedgerow along Pawtucket Street with a mix of shrubs and pollinator-friendly native species. City engineering provided technical comments that the applicant said have been addressed; remaining items were described as minor.

Board members and staff flagged several conditions that must be satisfied before construction: final sign-off from the fire department (including a physical ladder-3 apparatus path verification), an EPA construction general permit and enrollment in the local stormwater program, final wastewater connection approval from the Lowell Regional Wastewater Utility, and incorporation of engineering memo comments into the final plans. The transportation reviewer accepted the project’s trip generation analysis and transportation demand management plan and said the applicant should work with the city transportation engineer on low-cost multimodal improvements at the Pawtucket/School Street intersection and to address recommendations from a 2021 road-safety audit.

The board voted to approve the site plan and the special permit with the conditions described above. The chair noted that three members would not vote on the petition: Mr. Vishette (recusal), board member Caleb Chang (absent), and new member Lucia Walker (not eligible to vote because she was not on the prior hearing). The four voting members—Chairman, Mr. Tenza, Mr. Cardoza Silva and Mr. Saar—voted in favor. The site-plan motion carried 4–0; the special-permit motion carried 4–0.

Next steps: the applicant must secure outstanding technical and regulatory approvals (fire, stormwater, wastewater and any remaining engineering sign-offs) before final project permits are issued and construction may begin. The board and the applicant indicated they expect to return with finalized agency sign-offs rather than substantive design changes.