Two More Mixed Use Success Stories

While Billerica leadership continues to bicker over whether it’s a good idea to remove the broken down AMC Gremlin from our front yard, our neighbors are busy building gardens in theirs.

Tewksbury

As reported by the Boston Globe, Tewksbury Town Meeting will vote on a mixed use overlay district for an area just south of the town center.  The new zoning, proposed by the Planning Board, will be called South Village Overlay District and encourage “pedestrian-oriented” development.

Here’s what Tewsbury community development director Steven Sadwick says about it:  “The property owners win because they have the greater flexibility. And the town wins because we have some set of standards they are meeting as far as their designs.’’

And from Tewksbury Planning Board Member Nancy Reed:  “We’d like to see more services and retail for the people that live in that surrounding area so that they may be inclined to actually walk there or meet there. That way, they would be taking care of their business in our town rather than having to go elsewhere.’’

OK, it’s too early to call this story a success.  (Tewksbury TM will vote May 5.)  But if it does pass, it’s yet another municipality that will be taking business and development attention away from Billerica, which is the last thing we need right now.

Lowell

Over the past two decades or so, Lowell has done an excellent job of finding new uses for old mill buildings.  Rather than tearing them down and building sprawling and separated retail, office, and residential, developers have renovated these structures, turning them into lofts, stores, artist studios. etc.  By maintaining “livable density” in their small city, Lowell continues to be a place where it is comfortable to make some trips without driving, and possible for some to live entirely car-free.

But Lowell isn’t done.

As told by Globe columnist Alex Beam, the non-profit Lowell Plan has hired a man named Jeff Speck to further improve downtown.  Speck is a “New Urbanist,” a movement that seeks to change the way medium-sized towns and small cities are built.

New Urbanism is related to Smart Growth, but there are important differences.  Smart Growth usually involves retrofitting existing, blighted places while New Urbanism builds entire towns from nothing.  Two early examples of New Urbanist communities are Celebration, Florida (famous for being associated with Disney) and Seaside, Florida.  New Urbanism has some critics (myself among them), but more importantly this movement provides an alternate to suburban sprawl.

Read more about New Urbanism in the book “Suburban Nation,” a link to which can be found on my bookshelf.

Anyway, Speck’s addition to the team of people thinking about Lowell’s future signals the city’s interest in staying ahead of the curve in terms of land use planning.  This is not your father’s Lowell.  Speck could easily take them to new heights, as one of the most interesting places in Southern New England.  (Another is Providence, which has seen its own resurgence.)

Interesting places bring business activity, new development, and residents with disposable income.

Meanwhile, back in Billerica…

April Town Center News

With the election in the books, we can now fully concentrate on the business of improving the town.  Here’s what’s been happening over the last few weeks in the Town Center.

Welcome, Fit Results

Fit Results has opened in Billerica Center

First the good news.  As reported by billerica.org, a new fitness center has opened in the “red barn” at 475 Boston Road, just south of Tower Farm Road.  This is a perfect example of how an old, attractive building can be reconditioned for a modern use.  (Another is the mill development in North Billerica near the train station).  The place looks great.  This is the first new business to open in the Center since the dollar store.  Before that was the tire store, and before that, well…

Hopefully Fit Results will succeed and stay in this location for a long time.

Another Parking Lot

According to Town Planner Peter Kennedy, Dunkin Donuts bought the parcel just to its south, razed the house that was on it, and will build an overflow parking lot to support their fast food/drive-thru operation. A small business — a used car dealer — was previously operating in that space.  Since last year, the Center has now lost three small businesses (Coffee Emporium and Lincoln Liquors are the others).

We all love our coffee, but Dunkin Donuts — despite its tiny footprint — creates a big traffic headache in the morning.  The drive-thru operation often spills out onto Boston Road, blocking southbound flow.  Good luck trying to turn left into the parking lot.  More parking won’t help this problem.  It may very well make it worse.

And the last thing we need is more parking in a neighborhood that is nearly entirely covered in asphalt.  How dreadfully ugly.  There are two bungalows left now between DD and the Rite Aid.  I wonder how long those homeowners will hold out until they sell to a developer with plans to build another as-of-right, high-traffic fast food joint.

By the way, more impervious area is terrible news for flood impact.  More on this later.

Billerica Mall Boots Lions Carnival

For 19 years, the Billerica Lions Club carnival borrowed the mostly empty Mall parking lot for its summer carnival.  It has raised thousands for the Club’s scholarship fund.

But not this year, according to the Lowell Sun.  The report says that each tenant must approve use of the parking lot, and this time KMart said no.  Apparently the loss of parking hurt business last year.

I find this story puzzling in two ways.  First, the Mall has around 1,200 parking spaces, which is maybe ten times more than it needs, especially now that the place in half empty.  Even with the carnival there, plenty of parking remains.  I picked up my dry cleaning at Ma’s last year at carnival time and found a space without a problem.

Speaking of Ma’s, here is what Ma’s owner/selectman Bob Accomando told the Sun:  “It hurt their business because there are fewer parking spaces available.  I’m sad to see it go, but in these dire times, to put burden on a business is asking a lot.”  He estimated that 40-45 percent of the lot is taken up by carnival equipment and parking.  (I think he should check his math — the parking lot is 12 acres.)  Putting a burden on the Lions Club is asking a lot, too, and now they have to come up with some other way to raise the money.

Oh, and now kids have one less fun thing to do in Grumpytown this year.

Second, why would embattled New York City Mall owner RD Management divulge to the press that it was KMart that said no to the carnival?  This news hurts their tenant, which could face a boycott.  All RD Management had to say was something vague, like, “One of the Mall’s tenants was not comfortable with the carnival being there this year and we regret ending our long relationship with the Lions and we would like to offer this donation of $10 and blah blah blah.”

But for some reason, they instead decided to throw KMart under the bus.  So I ask you, if you were KMart/Sears, would you re-up when your lease ends after your own landlord treats you this way?  Not to mention all the damage you’ve taken to your inventory due to the gaping holes in the roof.

The point is, if you think Billerica Mall is a ghost town now, imagine the chasm that will be left after KMart goes away.  This will be a major problem, because that store provides a lot of things people need.

Boston Road Improvement Project

Did you know there are design plans completed for a major improvement of Boston Road between the Mall and the bowling alley?  There is.  And did you know these plans are eight years old?

It’s true.  Saw them with my own eyes.  Town Engineer Kelley Conway showed the plan set, dated 2002, to me a few weeks ago.  Actually there are two projects.  The set I saw was for the roads around the Common, which as we all know need a lot of help because the traffic flow is so confusing.  Another project will encompass the 4-lane section of Boston Road between the Common and the bowling alley.

So why hasn’t an 8-year-old plan be constructed?  Good question.  Ask your favorite member of the BOS, which apparently has forgotten all about it.

The good news here is that the plan is not final, and the design development process will restart, according to DPW Director Abdul Alkhatib.  If you are interested is what happens to Boston Road, there will be public meetings and your input will be welcomed.  However the direction this project takes will depend mostly on what sort of leadership will be provided by the BOS.  The Board must authorize many steps since we will be spending state money.  If they continue to sit on it, the project will go nowhere and might even die entirely if we citizens don’t stay on top of it.

If enough of you are interested, I will do a full story on this.  (You may recall I am a professional traffic engineer, and I design projects just like this, so plan on being very involved myself.)

The Nina, the Pinta…

Does anyone else find it strange that a big, expensive Mayflower moving truck has been sitting idle in the Mall parking lot near Boston for the past month?  Is one of the tenants getting ready to move out at a moment’s notice?

Town Meeting Election Results

While other news outlets have been reporting on the townwide races, I am please to present to you the results for Town Meeting members for each precinct.

Then again, there is not much to report.  All candidates on the ballot in nine precincts were elected because there were fewer seats than people running.  Only two precinct had races — #4 and #5.

• In precinct 5, veteran TMM Sal Dampolo, who is famous for calling almost every question to a vote, lost his seat.  With seven seats open, he came in 8th place with 298 votes.  (Stuart Wood came in 7th with 308 votes.)  Dampolo was one of three TMMs from #5 with a perfect attendance record last year.
• In precinct 4, we have a tie!  With seven seats open, incumbent Frank DeChiara — who wrote a very thoughtful statement for his candidacy in the Minuteman — tied new candidate George Noel with 180 votes each for 7th place.  There will not be a runoff election.  Precinct 4 will hold a caucus and decide who gets the seat.
• Planning Board member Vincent McDonald lost his seat, coming in 9th in #4 with 175 votes.  Fellow PB member Marti Mahoney came in second in #4 (262 votes).
• Highest vote total for any TMM: Allen Metivier, #2 (354 votes).
• Highest number of ballots cast: #5 (550) and #10 (478 ).  Both vote at the Kennedy School.  There were 411 ballots cast in the hot potato Parker School precinct, 8th most of the 11 precincts.
• Of 73 total candidates, only 4 lost.  While 16 new candidates were on the ballot, 34 TMMs chose not to run for reelection.

See results by precinct on the Billerica Roll Call page.

Election Day Preview 2010

April 10 is finally here.  What can we expect when the polls close?

Here are my predictions.  Let’s start with the most important number in any local election.

Turnout

Prediction: 19%, or just under the turnout for the Parker School override.  Did that hot political issue create new regular voters in the Parker precinct, or in parents in general?  I hope so, but probably not that many.  Low turnout helps out incumbents, of course, but since most races are decided by a couple hundred votes or fewer, even a single percentage point difference in turnout can swing an election.

Board of Selectmen

First place, Bob Correnti.  Did everything an incumbent should do: said as little as possible, and when he did it wasn’t that interesting.  Perfect strategy.

Second place, Paul Marasco.  The cry for new blood built slowly throughout the campaign and peaked in the last week or so.  Too nice a guy to go after his opponents, although that would have been effective.  But his message about changing the tone of the BOS did resonate with voters.

Third place, Mike Rosa.  A few days ago I thought turnout would be too low and his base too large for him to come in third.  But then I saw this story in the Sun about campaign finances.  As you know, moneys raised are an excellent predictor of election turnouts.  While Rosa has the most money in this account (about $6300), he only raised about $2700 this year.  My calculator says that means his donations are down compared to his last campaign.  Additionally, his opponents raised around $4100 (Correnti) and $4000 (Marasco).  That’s a sizable difference and it indicates Rosa has lost support.

Fourth place, Pat Flemming.  She was up against three strong candidates, but Flemming didn’t distinguish herself from the other candidates.  Hopefully she will try again.  She is great for the race, and with the right guidance, she could run a successful campaign.

Planning Board

First place, Bob Casey.  Has worked very hard on the PB and has given his time to other tasks, such as the Town Manager Screening Committee.  Has a few enemies leftover from the HD days, but reasonable people know him to be intelligent and dedicated, and these people are voting for him.

Second place, David Kinsella.  Being an architect really helps him, and he gave some solid ideas during his campaign.  Made it easy to vote for him.

Third place, Rome Capobianco.  There are three seats open, and… Rome will sneak into the third one.

Fourth and fifth place, David Saviano and Another Guy.  Saviano wrote a scant three-sentence statement for the newspaper and skipped the debate.  Another Guy collected his 50 signatures and then entered the witness protection protection program.

School Committee

First place, David Cugno.  Polished and prepared.  Did you see his facebook page?  And he raised $2500 — almost as much a Rosa!

Second place, Marie Blanchette.  The incumbent has enough established support to stay out of third place.

Third place, Sandra Giroux.  She belongs on the SC, but doesn’t have enough to win this time.  She decided not to spend money — which I highly respect — but spending money is very effective, and probably necessary to win a SC seat.

Fourth place, Anne-Marie Norman.  My favorite part of her story: she used the same front lawn signs her brother-in-law (same name) used when he ran for SC.  She gets the 2010 campaign recycling award.

Please vote Saturday.  Polls are open from 8 to 8.  Good luck to all the candidates.

The Finances of Land Development

Recently an anonymous writer made the following suggestion with regard to 480 Boston Road (the Billerica Mall parcel).

I would rather level the whole area and build an education/ learning center / arts complex for Billerica and turn the remainder into park and recreation.

Yes!  That’s what we like to see — new ideas.  It would solve everything, wouldn’t it?  You bet it would!

But there’s a problem.  In order for a parcel to be developed — no matter the size of the parcel or the nature of the project, there is one thing you always need or the thing will not happen.

Money.

Land development is always about making money.  It’s about turning a profit — often a very big one.  Developers are not running charities. If the finances don’t work out, the idea will never even make it to the drawing board.

Would the land development idea offered by the nameless commenter be profitable, and therefore feasible for a developer to build?  To find out, we’ll do a back-of-the-envelope calculation.

Rosa Fires Back

What qualities do you want in a leader?  Here are some of the things I look for.  Curious — asks questions and is sure his facts are right.  Welcoming — invites everyone to the table and talks to anyone with an opinion.  Imaginative — can see the world as a better place.  Rational — cool, calm, and collected.  I don’t think I’m too different from most people.

How do you know if a candidate for elected office has these qualities?  A five-minute conversation should do it, but that’s not possible with so many people on the ballot in a local election.  And many voters don’t have time to watch the debates or to seek out material produced by the candidates.

The press can be a big help by asking questions that we might ask.  In this space (and with the column) I tried to do my part.  That’s why I sent questions to 3 BOS candidates.  Readers of the column are interested in economic development, land use, and “place-making,” which I often write about, and my questions were designed to bring out the candidates’ opinions on these issues.

One person did not respond, but I wrote about him anyway.  Yesterday Mike Rosa wrote a guest commentary that was posted to the Minuteman’s web site.  Why he had the time to write this and not answer my interview questions is a mystery.

Billerica Politics c.2010

After a month of historic rainfall (second-wettest month in 120+ years) and flooding, we were rewarded with a spectacular weekend of weather.  I enjoyed every second of it, which included my daughter’s second birthday party.  We hosted family and friends very comfortably — outside, finally — on the deck and in the yard.  My daughter and her little cousin played on the swing set, we had a barbecue, and had us a real nice time.

I do my very best to stay away from the computer on weekends, especially one as great as this.  But Sunday night after everyone went to bed, I checked local news.  After all, there is an important election taking place here in five days.

But I show know by now to stay away from Billerica politics when I am in a great mood.

Interview with Paul Marasco

Planning Board Chairman Paul Marasco is running for a seat on the Board of Selectmen.  His web site is paulmarasco.com.

Q.  What would you bring to the BOS that it does not have now?