Lynn VNA plan passes with controversy

LYNN – The All-Care Visiting Nurse Association (VNA) got City Council approval Tuesday to erect a four-story office building on Broad Street, but many residents at the public hearing spoke against the architectural design.The vote was made with stipulations that neighborhood concerns about security and green space be addressed. Ward 5 Councilor Brendan Crighton, his mother a former VNA employee, played a key role in reaching the compromise.The VNA has agreed to install security cameras and flood lighting on the building facade abutting the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) parking garage, plant mature trees and other landscaping, provide on-site parking only for handicapped drivers and make an annual payment to the city in lieu of taxes, since the organization is a non-profit.The payment in lieu of taxes amounts to no less than $10,000 for the first three years, $20,000 for the following three years and $35,000 beginning the seventh year. Most of the VNA employees would use the MBTA parking garage, according to the adopted plan.Three issues remain unresolved – the proposed fence around the building, the VNA decision not to lease the ground floor to retail and the overall architectural design.”My understanding is that we will move forward without the fence,” Crighton said after the hearing, adding that downtown residents and concerned citizens would be allowed to express their opinions about what the building will ultimately look like.Lynn attorney Richard Cuffe, representing the developers, said the building will have a footprint of 11,500 square feet, for a total 46,000 square feet over four floors. The structure will be a first-class office building, he said.Cuffe noted that the VNA has been headquartered in Lynn since 1911 and has 640 employees, 275 of whom are Lynn residents. Eighty-five of those Lynn residents signed a petition in favor of the project.The VNA would abandon its offices in City Hall Square, at 2 State St., and other space currently leased in Wakefield, once the new building is completed.According to Cuffe, the VNA objects to renting the ground-level floor for retail because the organization needs all available space. Constructing a fifth-floor to accommodate those needs would cost $1.5 to $2 million, making it financially unfeasible, he said.The attorney emphasized that the VNA is the largest employer in the city except for General Electric and the city itself, and he urged the councilors to approve the application for the required special permit in a part of the city zoned for light-industrial use.James Cowdell, executive director of the Lynn Economic Development and Industrial Corp., said 250 new residents live in the downtown and that the VNA building should serve as a gateway to that neighborhood.Community Development Director James Marsh penned a letter to the council, favoring the construction but asking that the building be surrounded by mature landscaping, have a glass front facade and contain no in-house cafeteria so that the employees might patronize downtown restaurants. The VNA building must make a statement to people as they enter the downtown, he said.Marsh also advocated moving the North Shore Community College book store and cafeteria into the downtown business district to increase pedestrian traffic.Many VNA employees spoke in favor of the project, while those in opposition were predominately concerned about the architecture.Aikaterini Panagiotakis of Lynn, an architectural designer, said the building should reflect the city’s history and not simply mimic the Eastern Bank offices or the community college. Jocelyn Almy, owner of a Central Square art gallery, offered similar thoughts. Real estate broker Soraya Cacici, a downtown resident, asked the council to table the matter until artist renderings were available.Calvin Anderson, founder of a grassroots movement to beautify the gateway between the waterfront and the downtown, opined that a brick facade would reflect Lynn’s in