Lynn council zones in on housing

LYNN – The City Council wants to spur housing construction in the city?s poorest neighborhoods even as city planners set their sights on giving Boston Street from Washington Street to Chestnut Street and Broadway its most in-depth zoning review in decades.It has yet to begin, but the year-long Boston Street study will focus on ways to bring different types of new construction, including housing, to an East Lynn thoroughfare that has seen changes in recent years, including construction of a new CVS.?We will get input from residents, businesses – a lot of other people – and then propose changes,” said city Economic Development and Industrial Corporation Director James Cowdell.Boston Street rezoning – like the housing incentive zoning plan that dominated Tuesday night?s council agenda – represent two major steps elected officials have taken to rethink and improve the city as a new year begins.?We?re excited to do some changes,” said Council President Daniel Cahill.Light industrial zoning limitations that blanket Boston Street from Washington to Broadway have not been altered in five decades, said Cowdell, but at least one developer wants the stretch of street to include new housing.Former Brookside Liquors owner and Lynn resident Tom McGovern is proposing to build 31 townhouses on North Bend Street where a small cluster of homes is now located within walking distance of Boston Street stores. Building on the North Bend land will require a zoning change and no formal hearing for McGovern?s project has been scheduled.?We?ve been working very hard with various councilors. Residential is nothing but a positive,” he said.Cahill said the North Bend land is zoned residential. Changing it to business to make way for McGovern?s project is in keeping with longer-term zoning reviews for Boston Street. He said McGovern will meet with Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy before the council reviews his project.At the heart of the housing development incentive zoning plan is a push to help the city speed up its ability to meet future housing needs.?We want to set the groundwork for a developer,” said Councilor at large Brendan Crighton after the council voted 11-0 to approve the zoning plan.Crighton said the zoning?s flexibility allows city officials to negotiate tax benefits with developers to “protect taxpayers while encouraging development.” Councilors were angered last year when developer Mayo Group renovated 137 Broad St. and rented to state housing clients instead of market-rate residents.According to a Metropolitan Area Planning Council report prepared for city officials, the city is projected to add 6,000 more households by 2030 with an “annual projected demand of 75-single-family units and 200 multi-family units.” The report quoted a housing study noting the city approved permits for 22 homes and four multi-family residences annually between 2000 and 2012.Housing Development (HD) zoning seeks to attract housing developers with property tax exemptions and tax credits tied to projects resulting in substantial property rehabilitations. MAPC proposed councils draw the incentive zone around a quarter of the city defined by Western Avenue and Chestnut Street and including the Highlands, part of West Lynn, the Lynnway and downtown as well as neighborhoods off Lynn Common.?The HD Zone is located in areas where the city and private investors have focused resources and development effort, and these efforts have seen considerable success,” the MAPC report stated.The proposed zone is home to some of Lynn?s poorest residents with the study highlighting a median household income of $17,500 in downtown compared to $117,300 a mile away in Swampscott.?Increased economic diversity in these neighborhoods would help to stabilize the local economy,” the report concluded.The HD zone has Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development Executive Director Charles Gaeta?s support.?It will prove to be an important tool and a significant initiative,” Gaeta stated in a let