By Patrick Anderson
Staff Writer
—
The possibilities for developing the three-plus acres of Fort land that include the historic, but decaying, former Birds Eye factory would be nearly limitless under a request for broad new zoning freedoms filed this week by property owner Mac Bell.
For the first time since zoning came to Gloucester, the plan would open the door to a mixed-use project that could include a hotel, medical center, condominiums, windmill, assisted living apartments, a small farm and recreation hall in addition to the marine industrial uses already allowed.
Bell envisions an eco-friendly urban development, with ground-level retail markets topped by residences and bolstered by commercial work space.
Given the current market for marine industrial real estate, Bell said Thursday that only with broad zoning flexibility would any project be economically viable.
"It is as much to do with the economy as with creative entrepreneurial process," Bell said. "This economy is so challenging you need a new mousetrap. We needed to establish a green light and broad framework from which to work."
Outline emerges
While the details of the project will only be filled in when Bell is able to get investors on board, an outline of the development is beginning to emerge through the zoning proposal.
Most of the current Birds Eye building — including all of the cold storage facility and the white "Good Harbor Filet" tower — will be torn down, Bell has confirmed. The freezer is now vacant and has already been decommissioned.
The only part of the existing Birdseye building that may be retained, he said, is the exterior of the manufacturing space on the Fort Square side of the complex.
The tower, a unique part of the Fort skyline for decades, will likely be replaced by one, and possibly two, larger towers. As written, the zoning proposal would increase the allowable height of structures on the property from the current 40 feet to roughly nine stories, or 125 feet at the top of a new tower.
The zoning change applies to the entire area owned by Bell on Commercial Street, including the building currently housing the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce and apartments on Beach Court.
Bell said Thursday he intends to keep the gravel parking lot area closest to the Chamber as open "piazza" space with public access to Pavilion Beach.
Further to the east, where there is now a paved parking lot, Bell said he wants to put a market building with open atrium. The taller buildings would be further toward Fort Square where the current industrial buildings now stand.
Master plan
The zoning proposal is based on the concept of "planned unit development," a progressive tool included in state zoning law meant to encourage mixed-use projects on large properties by freeing them of restrictions if they are approved as a master plan.
The zoning freedoms of the planned unit development would be contained in an overlay district with the new permissible uses (residential, medical, etc.) pasted on top of the current marine industrial zoning.
To work, the Birds Eye proposal will need three separate endorsements from City Council.
The first would accept the Birds Eye Mixed-Use Overlay District, the second would approve a master plan for the site, breaking down the project into classes of uses, and third would be special permits for those new uses that require them.
Another component of the plan is that it designates "clusters" of uses that could be exchanged for one another without separate approvals.
For example, if the master plan calls for a certain-size marine trade school, it could be exchanged for an adult day care center, a philanthropy or an indoor recreation space.
The uses that would be allowed in the proposed new Birds Eye Overlay District with a special permit, yet not in other areas of the marine industrial are:
Marine trade school;
Indoor recreation center;
Hotel, motel, motor lodge;
Live/work studio;
Multi-family apartments;
Assisted living apartments;
Adult day care center;
Integrated medical center;
Farming, in which half of the produce is sold or used on site.
Already allowed
Property owners in the marine industrial district, one of the most permissive designations in the city, can already get special permits for uses that include a cell phone tower, restaurant, casino ship dockage, bank, restaurant, car rental, shopping center, hazardous material storage and radio tower.
Although the proposal was written by Bell's legal team, the zoning change was vetted by the Gloucester Planning Department and has some level of tacit support from Mayor Carolyn Kirk's administration.
"I think there is support for the broad purpose that has been identified," Planning Director Gregg Cademartori said Thursday.
"The administration is 100 percent behind the redevelopment of the Birds Eye property," Kirk said Thursday. "This particular proposal is going to be subject to rigorous debate by City Council and Planning Board."
Bell's purchase of the Birds Eye property a year ago this month for $2.25 million, and a year-long public forum process, came after a proposal by Kirk to rezone the Fort to allow a hotel on Birds Eye.
That plan, which was later amended to include an overlay district of the entire Fort, was scuttled in the face of neighborhood opposition.
Energy options
In addition to all of the possible creative uses for Birds Eye, the zoning proposal would open the door to a development overview written by architect Richard Griffin of Salem, which includes a number of "green" components including "net zero energy use."
A combination of solar power, wind power and energy efficiencies such as a "solar chimney" to cool the building, would have the complex create as much electricity as it uses.
Tenants of Birds Eye apartments would be able to forgo gas-guzzling cars and use a fleet of plugged-in electric vehicles provided by the development.
All of these plans will need both community acceptance and prove their financial viability. Bell has not been able to find a market for a fully permitted "green" office building with windmill on Emerson Avenue.
"There are always nay-sayers," Bell said. "If people can't see it, then it won't be done.
"Part of our challenges is to ask for permission," he said. "We believe we have a fantastic opportunity."
Patrick Anderson can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3455, or panderson@gloucestertimes.com.
