Real scrutiny begins on Linden Street
By Rachel Lebeaux/ Townsman Staff
Thursday, September 22, 2005
In their first big step forward since Special Town Meeting in June granted them zoning relief, the developers of the Linden Square proposal have submitted a Project of Significant Impact plan to the town.
Town planner Meghan Conlon said that Eastern Development submitted the PSI specifications to the Planning Board the week of Sept. 5. A PSI application is necessary for projects that are creating at least 10,000 square feet of new floor area or at least 15,000 square feet of area that will be changing in use. Recent PSI projects in town have included the Dana Hall athletic facility, the Wellesley College campus center, the Babson College undergraduate center and the new main library.
Eastern's Linden Square proposal calls for developing 18.6 acres on a 24-acre parcel on Linden Street. There are currently 15 buildings on the site, representing approximately 224,000 square feet. Eastern officials have said they plan to demolish seven buildings, build others and have agreed with the town to end up with no more than 280,000 square feet of commercial space between both sides of Linden Street. Of the approximately 53,000 square feet of additional space proposed, fewer than 4,000 square feet are planned for the first floor.
The Linden Square proposal depends upon Eastern's agreement with Roche Bros. to move into a new 40,000-square-foot building on the north side of Linden Street as the anchor tenant in the complex.
Since purchasing the parcel of land on Linden Street last year, Eastern had been in discussions with the town about unifying the 10 separate parcels of business, industrial and residential zones into one overlay district. In June, Special Town Meeting approved a zoning overlay district for Linden Square, in exchange for development restrictions and financial concessions to the town. In their development agreement with the town, Eastern also agreed to fund the full PSI and analysis.
Conlon said that the PSI plan examines the off-site impacts of a project upon seven town services: water; sewer; drainage; traffic and pedestrian safety; electric; fire alarm systems; and refuse disposal systems.
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