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Council delays vote on One Market Street redevelopment plan after parking and payment‑in‑lieu concerns
Summary
The council carried an ordinance to a later meeting after extended debate over parking ratios, planning‑board variances and payment‑in‑lieu (PILOT) rules for a large redevelopment project on block 1036 lots 1 and 8 (One Market Street); council requested a report on recent PILOT waivers before final action.
Council members on May 5 asked the administration for more details and carried to a later meeting a proposed amendment to the east side redevelopment plan for property identified on the official tax map as block 1036, lots 1 and 8 (referred to in the ordinance as One Market Street).
The ordinance (proposed 25‑23‑26) was introduced for second and final reading and then discussed at length after a council member raised parking‑ratio concerns for what the administration described as a very large project (council discussion referenced a project scale of several hundred units and hundreds of parking spaces). Councilman Monk said the scale warranted more time. “It’s a very It’s a very big project,” he said, and asked for a report on how many recent redevelopment approvals had received payment‑in‑lieu waivers and how the planning board has applied parking standards in practice.
Administration staff explained the mechanics: planning and zoning boards retain discretion under the Municipal Land Use Law and the Residential Site Improvement Standards (RSIS) to evaluate parking and variances; the pilot (payment‑in‑lieu) program only applies when a board grants a variance that reduces required parking, at which point the payment mechanism can be triggered. The administration also noted that PILOT true‑ups and audited financial statements can alter realized pilot receipts in subsequent years.
After extended back‑and‑forth about whether the planning board and council are aligned on parking expectations, the council voted to carry the ordinance to the next council meeting so staff can provide a report on the last redevelopment applications and PILOT outcomes. The council asked the administration to return with a summary of roughly the last 20 redevelopments and how many resulted in PILOTs or parking‑waiver outcomes before the council takes a final vote.
What happens next: The ordinance was carried without prejudice to the next council meeting; the planning board process and any required follow‑up reporting to the council will be scheduled so members can review historical outcomes before the second/final reading.
