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Planning board-backed rezoning for 128 Parker St. sent to full council and public hearing
Summary
A proposal to change a parcel at 128 Parker Street from R2 (residential) to a local business district was recommended by the planning board and forwarded to full council with an order for a public hearing; adjacent property owners voiced objections about potential impacts.
Planning Director Daniel McCarthy and private counsel presented a petition to amend the zoning map for 128 Parker Street (document 45825). The owner seeks to rezone a former pharmacy parcel from R2 residential to a B1 local business district to allow business uses consistent with surrounding properties.
"The proposed change would not be spot zoning," McCarthy said, noting a preponderance of non-residential uses on the four-block corridor and a planning-board advisory recommendation. Attorney Dana Cohen, representing owner George Desmet, said the structure has long operated commercially and that the rezoning would bring the parcel into consistency with adjacent businesses.
An attorney representing an adjacent property owner, Jonathan Rossi, stated there is opposition and cautioned that some proposed uses (the speaker mentioned a potential laundromat) could have neighborhood impacts including water-usage considerations. Rossi said neighbors and businesses will have the opportunity to speak at the public hearing and that he would participate.
The committee voted to forward the petition to the full council and to order a public hearing so the full council can hear testimony from stakeholders and the planning board findings.
Next steps: public hearing at full council, additional materials from planning and water/DPW if needed, and a subsequent full council vote.
