Mixed Use and Billerica Center
Billerica Town Meeting (TM) has now twice turned down two articles that would create mixed use zoning in Billerica Center. The old zoning in the Center is mostly General Business that does not permit residential use. Mixed use zoning would be an overlay, which means the existing zoning remains so a parcel could be developed under the “old” or “new” zoning. The future of mixed use in Billerica in now unknown.
Short-Term and Direct Benefits
- Encourage new development
- Attract a variety of creative development proposals
- Open 30-acre Billerica Mall parcel to a new set of redevelopment possibilities
- Shift power over development to Billerica citizens
Long-Term and Indirect Benefits
- Raise property values
- More services shopping choices
- Bring investment into Center infrastructure, making Center more attractive
- Raise tax revenue
- Replace buildings on “underperforming” parcels with newer, energy-efficient, modern buildings with locally-appropriate architecture
- Create bike- and pedestrian friendly environment
- Build new sidewalks, crosswalks, and off-street walking and biking paths
- Create new usable open space (parks, playgrounds, and playing fields)
- Create new civic space
- Attract new small businesses
- Build stable commercial tax base
- Create marketing opportunity
- Build affordable housing inventory without resorting to 40B
- Reduce traffic by replacing “high generating” uses such as drive-thru fast food with “low generating” uses such as office and residential and by putting multiple services within walking distance of hundreds of residents.
The October 2009 Attempt to Pass Mixed Use Zoning
- Article 23 (the language of the overlay) and 24 (assigning it to 57 parcels) is submitted by the Planning Board.
- 23 was approved by the Finance Committee (8-2), but 24 was not.
- Town Planner Peter Kennedy delivered a PowerPoint presentation
- Selectmen Marc Lomardo spoke in favor, Mike Rosa against. (Andrew Deslaurier was in the queue to speak in favor when the question was moved.
- After less than 40 minutes of debate time, the motion fails, 99-63. The margin is 8 votes. Only 162 of 240 TM members vote on the article. The rest are either absent or cast no vote.
The objections given by people at microphone include:
- There will be no place for school buses to pick up children
- There will be no place for children to play
- Retired people will not be able to clime stairs to a second floor dwelling
- Although empty-nesters may have only one car, they might have visitors
- They will build apartments on top of Billerica Mall
- It will make the center inaccessible to cars
- Boston Road is too dangerous to cross on foot
- Buildings will be 80 feet high
- The historical part of the center will be ruined
- Mixed use might be applied to places outside the center
- People don’t want to walk, they want to drive
- There are too many people living in the center now.
Here are my responses to the above.
The May 2009 Attempt to Pass Mixed Use Zoning
- Planning Board’s public hearing (450 notices mailed) was attended by 4 members of the public, none of whom spoke in opposition. PB votes 6-0 in favor (1 absent).
- Finance Committee voted 4-4. Three members were absent. (In the event of a tie, article is not recommended.) During this meeting, FinCom member Al Pearson refers to the petitioner, on record, as a “blow-in.”
- At a second meeting, FinCom considered reconsidering their vote with all 11 members present. However, FinCom rules say, apparently, that only members present at the original vote can vote on reconsideration. Reconsideration failed 4-4, with each member voting exactly the same way as the first time.
- After nearly two hours of TM time, TM votes 91 in favor, 89 opposed to article 33. Needing a 2/3 majority, motion fails. During the debate a TMM asks how the sponsors will benefit financially. (Moderator does not allow the question to be answered.) Article 34 is withdrawn.
- Two days later TM entertains reconsideration of the article 33 vote, but this vote fails.
Ground Work for Mixed Use in Billerica
Links to two important documents:
- The Billerica Master Plan
- Our regional planning agency is NMCOG and they wrote a Smart Growth Plan for Billerica
480 Boston Road
At 30 acres, the Billerica Mall site occupies about one-third of the Center. The parking lot alone is a whopping 12 acres of mostly empty, wasted land. Few development “programs” are profitable on this parcel under current zoning. Because of the town’s abnormally high parking requirements, only a large strip mall retail center of about 350,000 square feet (the approximate size of the existing mall footprint or the old Home Depot proposal) is feasible. But what might it look like with mixed use? I’ve sketched one idea below:
