SAUGUS — Town Meeting members on Monday rebuffed, for a third time, a proposal to rezone the property at 39R Forest St. to include it in the Business Highway Sustainable Development District zoning that covers most of Route 1, opting to send the proposal back to developer Sal Palumbo on the condition that any future resubmissions feature greater specificity about Palumbo’s plans for the property.
A motion made by Precinct 10 member Peter Manoogian carried unanimously, with Town Meeting putting the ball back in Palumbo’s court after expressing concerns that rezoning the parcel could lead to development on the residential Forest Street. Manoogian’s motion requests that any resubmission by Palumbo include a site plan featuring a detailed drawing of plans for the site.
Should Palumbo do so, it would be a rare escalation of Town Meeting’s powers. Generally, developments do not go before the 50-member body, with the Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals typically overseeing those processes. Manoogian acknowledged that fact on the floor of Town Meeting, but indicated he believed it was the right call for the future of the town.
“It’s taking us to a level that [is] somewhat on the power of the Planning Board, but you know what, after what I’ve seen happen on Route 1, maybe we do need to get involved to this degree,” he said.
The Planning Board, despite twice recommending the proposal, opted to issue a recommendation that Town Meeting not approve the rezoning, citing concerns about the failure to finalize a restrictive covenant that would prevent Palumbo from constructing an access road connecting Route 1 and Forest Street.
Attorney Mark Bobrowski, who is representing Palumbo, said his client and the town were “getting close” to an agreement on the covenants, but were hung up on one provision in particular.
Bobrowski said his client would likely pursue a resubmission to Town Meeting — either at a potential Special Town Meeting in the fall or at the next annual session in May 2024. Palumbo, who also owns 45 Forest St., 961 Broadway, and 999 Broadway, intends to construct a multi-family development on the lot.
“He wants to take a multifamily use from Broadway, across 39R, and then make a left-hand turn onto 999 [Broadway],” Bobrowski told the Planning Board earlier this month.
Board of Selectmen Chairman Anthony Cogliano, who submitted the article for consideration by Town Meeting, explained that he was employed by Palumbo when the zoning change for Route 1 was approved by the town. He said it was his understanding, as well as that of state Rep. Donald Wong (R-Saugus), Town Meeting members, and former Planning Board member Peter Rossetti, that the 39R Forest St. parcel was included in the new BHSD zoning. The Forest Street property is attached to 961 Broadway.
“Why it was, I have no idea,” Cogliano said.
Later, Cogliano’s rhetoric around the proposal changed, as he explained his “only involvement” with the rezoning was to protect the residents of Forest Street. It is unclear how amending the zoning to permit a multi-family development would do so, but Cogliano expressed fear that Palumbo could pursue a 40B development on the lot.
Manoogian, during his remarks, listed a series of conditions on the property imposed by the Board of Selectmen in 1988 — when he and fellow Town Meeting member Bob Long served as selectmen. Those conditions included the creation of a 25-foot buffer around any potential future development.
Any future proposal by Palumbo would have to fit those conditions, he said.
Should Palumbo pursue resubmission, any future Town Meeting article would once again be subject to review by the Planning Board, which would have the jurisdiction to issue a recommendation for or against the proposal to Town Meeting.
