The Planning Board set aside its discomfit over being by-passed in the process by a citizens’ petition and voted to support a set of zoning changes for the property at 888 Great Plain Ave. The issue will be decided at Town Meeting in May rather than through the typical Planning Board approval.
The changes would impact the former Hillcrest Gardens site, rezoning the half-acre lot to facilitate plans to convert it to a mixed-use development with 26 residential apartment units in the three stories above three ground-floor retail spaces.
The project is being proposed by local developer Jay Derenzo, who purchased the building in 2020 for $2 million. Since 2022, iterations of the plans have been brought before the Planning Board and town staff for informal reviews.
The Planning Board was lukewarm to the initial proposal and advised Derenzo to consult with neighbors and Town Meeting members. The project then went dormant when it was thought the parcel might be rezoned under the MBTA Communities Act process.
When the site was not included in the town’s MBTA map, Derenzo came before the Planning Board in early January with a slightly revised plan and an alternative path to approval — a citizens’ petition to Town Meeting to approve a new zoning regimen that would not require approval by the Planning Board.
Board members were less than enthusiastic about the workaround, but also acknowledged they would not be able to act on Derenzo’s zoning request in a timely manner. They were also quite receptive to the revised zoning and aware that any eventual project would still need to come before them for the required permits.
“It would still be a special permit mechanism so that the Planning Board would still have discretionary authority and have the ability to review and determine whether or not a given project made sense or did not make sense,” said George Giunta Jr., attorney for J. Derenzo Properties.
At a public hearing on the plan at its March 31 meeting, the Planning Board heard only token opposition from abutters, Warren Street residents Rochelle Goldin and Mary MacMahon.
Both seemed resigned to the zoning being decided at Town Meeting. They reminded the Planning Board that their longstanding traffic, safety and overall neighborhood impact concerns would be renewed if the project were to return to the Planning Board for the required special permits.
“I would have liked to see this process come through the board in a more formal way,” said MacMahon.
The board also received testimony supporting the zoning change from former Planning Board member Jeanne McKnight and Oscar Mertz, one of two candidates running in this year’s town election to succeed retiring member Natasha Espada.
When it came time for board members to comment on the proposal, Espada characterized it as a “thoughtful proposal” and said, “All in all I think it’s a positive thing for the center of town.”
Member Justin McCullen said the citizens’ petition process ran contrary to his status as “a zoning purist,” but felt the changes had merit and Derenzo has legitimate concerns over the amount of time it would take for the Planning Board to take up the project.
He also echoed Espada, assuring abutters their concerns could still be addressed when the project comes before the board for its permit.
Their colleagues, Chair Artie Crocker and member Adam Block, did not speak in direct opposition to the petition, but Block added a wrinkle by proposing an amendment to increase the required affordable housing unit allocation from 10% to 15%.
Town Counsel Chris Heep advised that adding that provision this late in the process — after the Town Meeting warrant language had already been finalized — would greatly complicate the entire process.
No change was made and the board ultimately voted 3-1 to support adoption at Town Meeting. Crocker was the lone dissenting vote, advocating for the board to discuss it further before voting.
New zoning would extend downtown zoning into residential territory
The 888 Great Plain Ave. location is considered transition space between the downtown and the ladder streets heading along Great Plain beyond Pickering Street. The site across from Greene’s Field abuts businesses on one side and two churches on the other before the residential character kicks in at Warren Street.
The parcel is currently zoned Single Residence B. To enable the project, the zoning map needs to be changed to remove that designation and extend both the Center Business District and the Needham Center Overlay District to encompass the parcel. This map change would allow the mixed-use of retail and multi-family housing.
In addition to the map change, Town Meeting will be asked to change dimensional requirements in the zoning bylaw, reducing the side setback requirement from 50 feet to 20 feet.
The proponents adhered to the Planning Board’s request to hold community meetings, four of which have happened with three more planned. They also presented an economic impact study estimating the proposed development would generate $149,198 in local revenues and a net positive fiscal impact of $67,566 per year. It anticipated the apartments would add four students to the town’s public schools.
They also provided a traffic study that concluded “the Project can be accommodated within the confines of the existing transportation infrastructure with a measurable but minor impact (increase) on motorist delays and vehicle queuing over existing conditions.”
The citizens’ petition will be reviewed next by both the Select Board and Finance Committee who will evaluate it before voting on their respective recommendations to Town Meeting.
The petition will require a two-third voting majority for passage at Town Meeting.
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