SAUGUS — Cliftondale Revitalization Committee Chairman Joe Vecchione signaled his support for Town Manager Scott Crabtree’s proposal that the town purchase a two-family home on Jackson Street in Cliftondale Square as part of efforts to reinvigorate the area.
Vecchione, a Town Meeting member representing Precinct 2 and a member of the Planning Board, wrote a letter to members asking them to support Articles 6 and 7 on the warrant for Nov. 28’s Special Town Meeting, which would allow the Board of Selectmen to acquire the title for 42 Jackson St. and allocate $835,000 for the purchase of the property. Earlier this year, Town Meeting members voted unanimously to approve the purchase of 481 Lincoln Ave., which sits adjacent to the Jackson Street property.
“As chairman of the Cliftondale Revitalization Committee, which wrapped up our work in March of this year, I am very pleased to see the manager referring to the short and long-term implementable recommendations laid out by the committee after many studies, significant turnover, decades of inaction by the town in regard to Cliftondale and taking meaningful action to invest in the square,” Vecchione wrote in an e-mail.
Crabtree has suggested that the property could be used for parking, a key concern identified by the committee. Vecchione backed the idea, adding that the committee pointed to off-street parking as the “red-tape” holding the area back.
“This will provide a plot of land that would provide ample off-street parking with ideal vehicular circulation patterns for a (hopefully) vibrant downtown in the future,” Vecchione said in a letter submitted to Town Meeting members.
Purchasing the property, Vecchione said, would aid both the short and long-term goals of revitalizing the square, not just by potentially providing a space for parking, but also by using the home for “temporary activations, local events, or even multi-purposed public space.”
“In the short term, with little foot traffic and underutilized storefronts, the goal is to bring back foot traffic to Cliftondale,” he said.
Vecchione said he would likely be crafting a zoning overlay for the square that would be submitted for consideration at a future Town Meeting. He added that the overlay is “long overdue” and he hoped to craft it in a collaborative fashion with members.
“I’ve learned in my two terms in Town Meeting that this delegation has strong opinions on zoning and also, some have felt that the processes haven’t been as collaborative as they’d like ahead of the vote,” he wrote. “Hearing this, I would like to invite any and all of you to participate in the discussion of what we want to see in Cliftondale, what currently exists physically in the square, and what opportunities are present.”
The Finance Committee on Monday night formally recommended the purchase to Town Meeting members, with Chair Kenneth DePatto saying he believed the property was worth the $835,000 price.
Vecchione added that he looked forward to “working together to make Cliftondale not just a place again, but a place we are proud of.”
Charlie McKenna can be reached at [email protected].
