Lynn waterfront squabbling starts anew

LYNN – Just two weeks after the City Council unanimously approved an amendment to the zoning ordinance for the Waterfront Master Plan, changes are already being discussed.Members of the Ordinance Committee listened in as James Cowdell, executive director of the Economic Development & Industrial Corporation (EDIC), Norm Cole of Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development (LHAND) and Harold McGaughey, director of the Office of Economic and Community Development weighed in.According to Cole, the main dispute with the amendment to the zoning ordinance lies with the lot size of 40,000 square feet for the Washington Street Gateway and Lower Sagamore Hill area.The area is situated near the future large-scale development along the waterfront of Lynn Harbor in the master plan.”From day one, Sasaki (design firm hired for waterfront master plan) never ever recommended 40,000 square feet in the overlay district,” he said. “It’s always been a separate neighborhood, and 40,000 square feet says that our long term goal is to take everything out, and that is not what we intend to do.”Cole said Sasaki previously recommended 15,000 square feet for the minimum lot area, a minimum of 50 feet for frontage, zero feet for front yard on Washington Street and the Lynnway, with a setback from the sidewalk of up to 15 feet for outdoor dining or a courtyard, and six feet for all other front yards on side streets.As far as the maximum four-story and minimum two-story height requirements, Cole said he didn’t have a problem with either of them.”You (City Council) did the right thing about passing it (amendment) but this is a legitimate issue that I want corrected,” he said. “I believe it was an honest mistake, but this is an urban neighborhood.”Cowdell claimed he didn’t know how the square footage came to be 40,000 and said he recently contacted Sasaki Associates Inc. to get to the bottom of it.”They put in writing on March 31 that basically said they originally recommended 15,000 square feet,” he said. “So I honestly don’t know where the 40,000 square feet came from. It wasn’t intended for that area, but for other areas, such as along the Lynnway, and it never should have been there.”Visibly frustrated, McGaughey said he expected tweaking to be done to the amendment over time, but didn’t expect it to happen so soon.”I’m a little concerned that two weeks into the process, we are already trying to change things, and that just sends the wrong message that the city is up to their old tricks and that we can’t get anything done,” he said.Darren Cyr, chair of the Ordinance Committee and Ward 3 City Councilor said further discussion would have to take place before any conclusions could be drawn.”I don’t think we can make a decision to change anything at this moment because 30 minutes isn’t enough time for such an important issue,” he said.Cyr said suggested LHAND, EDIC and Community Development work together to resolve the issue and come back to the Ordinance Committee within two-to-four weeks.Cowdell predicted that this request for a change would most likely be the first of many times that the ordinance gets tweaked in an effort to ultimately make future development easier.