Lynn to schedule hearing to discuss ordinance changes

LYNN – A Boston Street developer was facing a six-month construction delay over parking spaces until the Ordinance Committee stepped in unannounced to help.”Wouldn’t it be quicker if the Ordinance Committee changed the ordinance rather than have them go for a variance?” asked Ward 3 Councilor Darren Cyr, who is also chairman of the committee.Tropic Star Development out of New Hampshire was scheduled to ask City Council for three special permits to build an “unnamed pharmacy” on Boston Street.Inspectional Services Director Michael Donovan said the developer’s plans included parking spaces that measured 9 feet by 18 feet with 24-foot aisles between them. However, the city code requires parking spaces to be 8.5 feet by 20 feet with undefined aisle space. To fit in the number of spaces needed the developer would have had to shrink the spaces or pick up four additional feet of property.”The clients are very specific though,” Donovan said. “So they are going for a variance ? they could make it work but the client won’t let them.”Donovan said seeking a variance would set the project back six months.Ward 2 Councilor William Trahant asked Donovan, “whose right on the parking, us or them?””We’re out of tune with the rest of the world,” Donovan said.The national standard for parking spaces is 9 feet by 20 feet but Lynn hasn’t changed the ordinance that was set down sometime in the 1960s.Donovan said it would undoubtedly be quicker to change the code.”We could change the zoning ordinance with a public hearing in a month,” he said.”As chairman of the Ordinance Committee I’m asking you to meet with the Law Department and put together a package and we’ll set down a public hearing,” Cyr said.Donovan said he often has to explain the parking space situation to out-of-town developers who generally don’t want to put in narrower spaces. He said changing the ordinance would not only make things easier for Tropic Star Development but for his department as well.Cyr asked why the issue had never come up before now. Donovan said he felt to bring the issue forward would be to overstep his bounds but Cyr shrugged off the suggestion. He pointed out that Donovan is in the position to hear what developers view as flaws with the city’s zoning and building codes, and it would help both the new Permitting Process Review Committee, which is where the issue came up, as well as the Ordinance Committee.Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].