Lowell City Council Blocking Condos? I think not.

I have been on the City Council now for a little over half a year. Still learning new things every week.  It has come to my attention that some folks in Lowell believe the City Council is holding up progress when it comes to the proposed condo project on the Riverwalk in the old school buildings.

Bull-shizzle. Not the case at all. Let me give you a bit of a time line to demonstrate how much City Manager Mike Burns, the DDA, and the City Council have been trying their best to make the condo project a reality.

1. I was a board member of the DDA (Downtown Development Authority) for a couple years before being appointed to fill Jeff Phillips council seat late last year. While on the DDA, Mike Burns came to us with the recommendation that we become a recognized Brownfield site. In short, doing so would allow anyone purchasing a building or buildings with something like asbestos in it to be able to apply for and easily receive tax credits to offset the expense of asbestos abatement. At the time we approved this, the deal for the proposed condos was hush-hush. When I asked Mike if these efforts for Brownfield registration were for a possible project at the old school, he said "Maybe". I knew I was onto something as did most everyone else. There is the first step that I am aware of in the collective effort to HELP Riverview Flats become a reality. The first step by the City of Lowell to make things EASY.



2. Before I was even appointed to the City Council, I attended a meeting about the condos to lend my support as a Lowell business owner and a resident. Julie and I live on Monroe & King, across the street from the property. (See A below.) I was asked to attend the meeting by one of the partners in the development. The 5 sitting council members were all very motivated to move the project along. There was push back from a couple members of the Parks Commission because at that time the condo partners were asking for an additional 5 feet of property in front of Phase 1 - condos built on the former bus garage.  The City Council & City Manager were 100% behind making a trade of property to facilitate moving forward. They were open to anything that would move this forward and turn a blighted empty set of buildings into something useful and beneficial to Lowell.

3. As the newbie on the Council, I heard a recommendation from City Manager Mike Burns that we allow the condo project to be designated a Planned Unit Development (PUD) which means it would be EASIER to build a multi-use structure such as the one planned at Riverview Flats. PUDs are subject to fewer restrictions when it comes to zoning ordinances, etc. The support was unanimous - if allowing the project to be designated a PUD would help speed it along the Council was all in favor. By granting the request for PUD status, the City Manager and Council took one more step to make it easier for the developers.

So why has nothing happened there?  Why do we not see condos being constructed? There are two major reasons.

A - before I attended the meeting to support the project, I voiced my single biggest concern about the project to the partner who asked me to attend. Since the company owned property on BOTH sides of High street - the bit of road leading to the Flat River, I was very concerned about public access to the boat launch and the kayak launch. Living where we do and walking to and from work every day, I see firsthand how many people take advantage of access to the Flat River. He assured me that they had NO INTENTION of interfering with access to the river.

That turned out to be a load of bullshit. The demand that the City of Lowell vacate High Street was what turned the Council 180 degrees. When we heard that demand, which accompanied an asking price of $225,000 for the Southern piece of land it was a unanimous "No Way".  As of today, there has been no rescinding of the request that the City of Lowell vacate High Street.

On a somewhat ironic note, we have since discovered that we could not give up access to the Flat, even if we were stupid enough to try it because of a grant given to the City of Lowell for property that is part of the Riverwalk.

The day after we as a Council refused to surrender access to the Flat River via High Street, we were given an invoice in the amount of just over $250,000 for "rent" for where the power lines that feed the East side of the river cross the property owned by Unity Investors. That demand has continued with monthly invoices arriving at City Hall.

I will address the demand for $225,000 and the lack of proper procurement of an easement by Lowell Light & Power in another post. Right now, the City has filed for eminent domain for the portion of land that contains buried power and communication lines to the homes, businesses, and schools on the East side of the Flat River. We filed that suit when our offer of $60,000 JUST FOR THE EASEMENT on the power lines was refused by the Unity partners. It should be noted that the entire piece of land on the Southern side was listed for $40,000 when they bought it - so we offered one and a half times the listed price just for an easement - not to buy the property.

B - putting the scuffle concerning the southern property aside, the reason there has been NO start on the PUD/condos is because the developers have yet to submit a building plan that conforms with PUD standards. There is a set protocol for Planned Unit Development plans and a industry accepted form that must be followed in submitting them to a Planning Commission. As I mentioned above, the PUD designation makes it easier to developers to get projects approved, but there are certain guidelines that must be followed. Said guidelines have not been followed in two attempts. One of the requirements that has been ignored is a lighting plan for the units - sounds straightforward, but neither of the submissions to date have contained one.

I have tried to keep this as brief as possible - but I hope you can clearly understand that the problem with forward motion on Riverview Flats is not with a City Council or Manager who have plotted to halt completion.

If all of this fails to reach you, then how about a simple common sense question:

Why on earth would the City Council/Manager of a small town that cannot afford to pave its streets have any desired to halt the development of a half dozen or more condos that will supposedly be in the $250,000 to $300,000 price range? Would a City turn down that kind of tax revenue?

We wouldn't and we haven't.



Comments

Gail Roderick said…
Clear, blunt (one of the things I love about you) explanation of the condo situation. I hope your informative post is widely read and reinforces the fact that our Council and CM are on top of things and keep what is best for Lowell first and foremost. Thank you for your dedication to this town I love.
Tony McCaul said…
Thank you for explaining this so clearly. I was confident our City Council and manager were working in the best interest of our town. I appreciate this information and hope for a resolution so the plan can move forward- as long as it has a positive outcome for Lowell!

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