LYNN — The City Planning Board approved a permit Tuesday night for a Lynn business owner to go ahead with a proposed 24-unit apartment complex at 21-27 Neptune Blvd.
Manuel Robles and his attorney Nathaniel Spinney were seeking a special permit to add seven more off-street parking spots to the Neptune Boulevard development.
While the council did not seem to take issue with the parking spots, there was concern from citizens and councilors about the development’s impact on the city. One Lynn resident named Joanne spoke in opposition to the development. She raised concern that adding more residences took away commercial opportunities and could add to overcrowding in schools.
Isaac Simon Hodes, director of Lynn United for Change raised another concern. He argued that the three units set aside for affordable housing in the complex were insufficient.
“We know that you can’t do 100 percent affordable on every project, you have to find the right balance. We’d like to see the balance a little higher in the affordability direction … we’d like to see something closer to 20 percent of the units at actual Lynn affordability rates,” Hodes said.
Ward 6 Councilor Fred Hogan said the development was going to be positive for the neighborhood.
“The property has been vacant for two years. It has been a plight, it has been an ugly eyesore on the neighborhood, we’ve had issues there,” he said. ”This is going to work for this neighborhood, for this part right here.”
Ward 2 Councilor Richard Stabbard added that while he supported the motion to approve, he also argued that these types of developments did impact the schools.
“We’ve got a larger percentage of our population enrolled in our public schools than any other community around us by thousands,” he said.
He said that with the increasing residences, strain on public services like schools, police and fire departments have also increased.
“We can’t handle what we’ve got. Our police and fire are stretched to the max. We’ve got classrooms in this city with 45 kids with teachers quitting daily. It’s unsustainable, the path we’re on. The trajectory this city is on … is unsustainable.”
Ward 1 Councilor Wayne Lozzi said that he felt he was lacking information about the specifics of the complex. Hogan responded, saying that he was up to date with the information because the development is in Ward 6, not Ward 1.
“We represent the city as well as our districts, Councilor Hogan. It’s important for us to take a vote for around the city,” Lozzi replied. “To me it’s not sufficient that [the planning board] part of a team that recommends reviews and recommends in a shell. It should be more transparent, we should know what’s going on. They’re our experts, I’d like to hear from them.”
Ward 3 Councilor Coco Alinsug concurred with Lozzi.
Councilor at-large Brian LaPierre urged the council to “respect the autonomy of the ward councilors.”
“We have to know that the councilors did their due diligence on these projects,” he said.
Following the Neptune Boulevard development’s public hearing, Imelda Zamora, a Watertown resident and owner of Mi Corazon Taqueria petitioned the council to allow her to operate a food truck in the Lynn Market Street parking lot. The Mexican cuisine food truck would operate Monday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to midnight.
Ward 5 Councilor Dianna Chakoutis said that after talking with the landlord of the parking lot, she believed that the food truck would be “a great thing for the Market Street lot.” The petition was also approved.
Emma Fringuelli can be reached at [email protected].
