Plymouth Rubber owners unveil new development plan

After several unsuccessful rezoning attempts over the past eight-plus years, the owners of the Plymouth Rubber factory site on Revere Street have reemerged with a new development plan — and the public is invited to hear all about it beginning next Wednesday, November 5, at a special presentation hosted by the Planning Board at Canton Town Hall.

According to Planning Board Chairman Jeremy Comeau, representatives from the development team, Canton Holdings LLC, will be on hand to discuss the details of the project and will also take questions from residents. Part of the presentation, which starts at 7 p.m. in the Salah Meeting Room, will include an explanation of the state’s District Improvement Financing (DIF) program — a key component of the proposal and the potential funding source for a host of public improvement projects associated with the site.

At this point, the project is still in the conceptual stages and no formal hearings have been scheduled. However, unlike some of the developer’s previous proposals, this one was worked and reworked over a period of several months with direct input from town officials and appears to be headed for a public vote sometime early next year — either at the next annual town meeting or possibly even sooner if a special town meeting were to be called.

The latest redevelopment plans call for a mix of housing, commercial uses, and open space, with a portion of the property — including assorted water rights and the historic Revere rolling mill and barn — being conveyed to the town for public use. The project would also involve extensive environmental remediation and a variety of potential infrastructure improvements that would be funded through the DIF program.

The proposed housing component would top out at 295 units and would include 184 conventional condominium units, 51 townhouse-style condominiums, and 60 age-restricted apartments. The conventional condos would be spread out over five three-story buildings with underground parking and would include 20 age-restricted units. There would also be a total of 29 affordable housing units — equivalent to 10 percent of the total housing stock — including 23 moderate-income condos and six moderate-income apartments.

The project also calls for 4,000 to 8,000 square feet of commercial space along Revere Street, a 10,000-square-foot kindergarten, walking trails, and a pedestrian connection to the Canton Junction commuter rail station.

In addition, the developer has agreed to cede control of upper and lower Forge Pond and adjacent uplands, as well as several dams, culverts, and wetland areas. The town would also assume ownership of roughly 2.2 acres surrounding the Revere mill and barn, and more importantly, the buildings themselves — which are all that remain of the original copper company that was founded by the famed patriot Paul Revere.

Comeau said the town would explore restoration and use options for the two historic structures, adding that any major undertaking would be subject to the approval of town meeting voters.

Funding for the preservation of the two structures could come from any number of funding sources, including the town’s newly established Community Preservation Act fund, or possibly through funds raised by the DIF program.

Available to all municipalities in the commonwealth, the DIF program enables cities and towns to fund “public works, infrastructure and development projects by allocating future, incremental tax revenues collected from a predefined district to pay project costs.” Funds are raised through the issuance of bonds, which are then paid off through the increased real estate taxes generated as a result of new development in the district.

Among the improvements currently being explored through the DIF program are various roadway and infrastructure improvements on Revere Street, the installation of a sidewalk and lighting from the development site to Canton Junction, creation of a four-way intersection at Norfolk and Neponset streets, and the addition of traffic signals at the MBTA bridge and the Revere Street fire station.

Asked for his opinion on the development plan as a whole, Comeau said there are several intriguing elements, although he plans to reserve judgment until he hears from all interested stakeholders, including residents and his colleagues on the Planning Board.

“I have not made up my mind,” he said, “and I don’t think it would be proper for me to do so until I hear all of the facts at a [formal] Planning Board hearing.”

The developers, meanwhile, are eager to move forward with the project and hope to have the entire development completed, including remediation and construction, within a span of four years. Their plan for now is to meet informally with various town boards throughout the next few weeks with the hope that formal hearings could commence sometime before the start of the New Year.

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Posted by Jay Turner on Oct 30 2014. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.