Legal Notice
Document Actions
Tanner St. Plan
MEMORANDUM
TO: Bernard F. Lynch, City Manager
FROM: J. Matthew Coggins, Assistant City Manager/DPD Director
SUBJECT: MOTION OF 07/24/07 BY COUNCILOR BRODRICK
REQUEST THE CITY MANAGER TO PROVIDE THE TANNER STREET
CORRIDOR PLAN AND BEGIN THE PROCESS OF UPDATING THE SAME
Tanner Street Initiative
Background/History
The Tanner Street area in Lowell is a traditional industrial corridor in the middle of which sits the Silresim Chemical Corporation's former storage and processing facility (now known as the Silresim site). The Silresim site is a parcel just over four acres on Tanner Street, that was the site of significant toxic chemical barrel dumping and has been considered one of the worst Superfund Brownfields sites in the State. The site has been under government control since the company declared bankruptcy and ceased operations in 1977, leaving behind over 30,000 drums of chemicals and millions of dollars in unpaid taxes. Since 1977, the site has been capped, tested, groundwater treatment began and the final cap design construction is being evaluated. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) along with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) foresees a very long term clean up of the Silresim site. In addition to the Silresim site, the remainder of the Tanner Street properties consist of other Brownfields sites, with uses such as iron and steel fabrication, auto repair and junk dealers.
The EPA, during its investment in cleaning up the Silresim site in 2001, awarded the City of Lowell a grant to study possible short and long-term uses of the Superfund Site. It was then determined by the City that a study of Silresim would not be effective without including the impact this site has had on the entire district, thus creating the “Tanner Street Initiative”.
The City formed a Community Advisory Board to help guide the planning process in determining the future of the area. During that process the City hired Stoss, Inc. and developed a reuse and redevelopment study of the district (a copy of this study is attached). In developing this 2001 Tanner Street Plan, there was a great deal of public involvement from local officials, Tanner Street business owners, local financial institutions and neighborhood groups. The results of the feedback show the following points that all stakeholders agreed upon:
The district is viewed as having tremendous development potential with excellent highway access to the regional transportation network, located off the Lowell Connector at the confluence of Route 495 and Route 3.
The City should work with current Tanner Street businesses to update and comply with current environmental regulations.
The City and State should work to create a landscape screen between Tanner Street and the Connector, and screening between Tanner Street and the Sacred Heart neighborhood.
SUBJECT: MOTION OF 07/24/07 BY COUNCILOR BRODRICK
REQUEST THE CITY MANAGER TO PROVIDE THE TANNER STREET
CORRIDOR PLAN AND BEGIN THE PROCESS OF UPDATING THE SAME
Page 2
The City should develop a plan to focus economic activity and secure new businesses for the area.
The City should make sure that the residential and industrial areas do not encroach on each other.
The Stoss, Inc. Plan recommended that the City make the Tanner Street area a park with biking, walking paths, public art and innovative environmental design. However, this proposal assumed that the City would acquire all the Tanner Street parcels for public uses. That is unlikely, for two reasons - one, financially that is difficult for the City, and two, Tanner Street is one of the City's few areas zoned and designed for light industrial and manufacturing. Keeping it as a business corridor would allow it to develop into a stronger economic engine for Lowell.
The EPA has been very interested in helping the Tanner Street area evolve into an environmentally clean, vibrant business corridor for Lowell by providing the City with many grants to examine future development of the Silresim site, and more recently the development of a stormwater management system for the site, and the east side of Tanner Street. The stormwater project, if constructed, will hopefully be a catalyst in renovating the Tanner Street area. Innovative sustainability measures are encouraged by the City's comprehensive Master Plan, and the Tanner Street area has excellent opportunities to test the implementation of these goals.
Based upon feedback from stakeholders to date, the environmental objectives in the Tanner Street planning documents, and the City's Comprehensive Master Plan, the Division of Planning and Development (DPD) is seeking to undertake the following action steps to update the Tanner Street Initiative:
Short Term
Reactivate the Tanner Street Initiative Community Advisory Board.
Secure funding to construct Watermark Environmental Inc.'s Stormwater Project for the Silresim site and the east side of Tanner Street.
Construct sidewalks and other streetscape improvements along Tanner Street (concurrent with Stormwater Project).
Screen/buffer Tanner Street from Lowell Connector and Sacred Heart Neighborhood.
Develop, with participation from the Community Advisory Board, a long-term action plan for the Tanner Street area.
Assess the feasibility of encouraging new development for clean manufacturing, environmentally friendly industry, Nanotechnology and Biotechnology to cluster industrial facilities around Tanner Street.
Long Term
Work with current Tanner Street businesses to update and comply with current environmental regulations.
Continue to ensure that the residential and industrial areas are not encroaching into each other.
Relocate Tanner Street businesses that do not need daily highway access.
SUBJECT: MOTION OF 07/24/07 BY COUNCILOR BRODRICK
REQUEST THE CITY MANAGER TO PROVIDE THE TANNER STREET
CORRIDOR PLAN AND BEGIN THE PROCESS OF UPDATING THE SAME
Page 3
Transition from heavy industrial land use to cleaner, lighter industry, office, research and development uses.
Assess the feasibility of “buying out” property owners on Tanner Street, or implementing the Master Plan action step to develop an Authority to handle Brownfields parcel ownership and redevelopment.
JMC/PS/ns
Attachment
cc: George Proakis, Chief Planner
Theresa Park, Director of Economic Development
Pardis Saffari, Neighborhood Planner
Christine Thomas, Environmental Officer
111412/2/200812/2/2008
City of Lowell - Office of the City Manager
DIVISION OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
JFK Civic Center/50 Arcand Drive Lowell, MA 01852
J. Matthew Coggins, Assistant City Manager/DPD Director
Anne M. Barton, Deputy Director
Adam Baacke, Deputy Director
PHONE (978) 446-7200 FAX (978) 970-4262
333412/2/200812/2/2008
City of Lowell - Office of the City Manager
DIVISION OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
JFK Civic Center/50 Arcand Drive Lowell, MA 01852
J. Matthew Coggins, Assistant City Manager/DPD Director
Anne M. Barton, Deputy Director
Adam Baacke, Deputy Director
PHONE (978) 446-7200 FAX (978) 970-4262