The Kirk administration's progress toward a series of city-wide goals set last spring was eclipsed Monday night by an outpouring of resident opposition to the proposed rezoning of the Fort neighborhood, at the first of three scheduled "state of the city" talks.
Heading out to the community six months after delivering a bleak assessment of the city's finances in her first "state of the city" and outlining policies of municipal austerity combined with economic development to try to solve them, Mayor Carolyn Kirk on Monday provided updates on her efforts, including the filing of a Fort rezoning plan with the Planning Board this summer.
But that measure, one of more than 30 "action items" the mayor had identified as key steps to help Gloucester achieve long-term goals of solvency, downtown revitalization, improved services for young people and updated infrastructure, ignited passionate debate from the roughly a dozen Fort residents in attendance fearing rezoning could irrevocably alter their neighborhood.
"Leave it alone," said Ann Molloy of Ocean Crest Seafood on Commercial Street, concerned that rezoning could lead to gentrification and conflict over the sights, smells and traffic on the working waterfront.
Bill Johnson of Fort Square said he was concerned that by opening the Fort up to uses other than marine industrial, the city would be vulnerable to developers proposing all kinds of projects that would not benefit the area.
"I recognize the difficulty of the position you are in, but this needs to be more carefully thought out," Johnson said.
Much of the opposition to the rezoning has revolved around discussions about a new hotel on the site of the Bird's Eye Foods factory building.
On Monday, Kirk acknowledged meeting with representatives from Marriott hotels and said she did support a hotel somewhere in the city, but that the purpose of rezoning was greater than just a hotel.
The Fort currently is zoned marine industrial and the plan now being considered by the Planning Board would leave the harbor-side of Commercial Street, which is part of the state regulated Designated Port Area, as it is.
Under the plan, the area between Commercial Street and Pavilion Beach, including the Bird's Eye property, would be changed to "central business," which would permit a hotel and most other uses, while Fort Square would be "neighborhood business," which allows small businesses below residences. The wharves at the end of the point would be changed to harbor zone, allowing recreational boating use.
Former City Councilor and state representative candidate Astrid afKlinteberg, a Lanesville resident, objected to the notion that the city would base the future of such valuable land on what developers had proposed, instead of what the city believes would be the optimal use for the land.
"We need to go out shopping that land," afKlinteberg said, forcefully. "You have a large number of people that would be interested."
AfKlinteberg proposed looking for a college interested in setting up a research operation on the harbor.
After apologizing to the Fort residents for not communicating with them before the rezoning plan was released, Kirk stuck by the plan, even though she knew it was a situation unlikely to satisfy everyone.
"What we face is balancing the needs of the city as a whole with the needs of the neighborhood," Kirk said yesterday. "No matter how this comes out, not everyone is going to be happy. There is a silent support for the economic development that the city needs, but it has been a pretty intimidating crowd."
At several times during the meeting, comments were drowned out by conflicting voices.
One of the central messages Kirk has been trying to convey to residents through exhaustive, person-to-person description of city finances is the challenge of maintaining services under Proposition 21âÑ2 without new development to expand the tax base.
The Planning Board, which must approve any rezoning, is meeting to address the issue Monday, Oct. 20.
Before discussions Monday gravitated toward the Fort, Kirk hit on a number of issues her administration will be dealing with in the upcoming months, including settling expired labor contracts, looking into covering city employees through the state health insurance pool and reviewing the closure policies of neighborhood fire stations.
She warned that a darkening state budget picture could result in unilateral cuts from Gov. Deval Patrick after the November elections.
This year Magnolia Fire Station was closed in order to cut down on overtime spending while limiting the rolling fire station closures that result when firefighters take sick days or go on vacation. But Kirk said she would look at going back to rolling closures with Magnolia open whenever 17 or more firefighters show up for a shift.
Kirk credited her administration with avoiding further financial hardship for Gloucester by holding the city's current bond rating and borrowing money for the upcoming year before the deepening of the international lending crisis.
She announced that property data and digital mapping from the assessor's office will soon be available on the city Web site.
Residents concerned about issues outside of the Fort rezoning asked questions about whether the city should privatize ambulance services, consolidate fire department facilities and how it might be affected by a possible national recession.
Monday's meeting was held at Legion Hall on Washington Street. Kirk will appear Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 7 p.m. at Annisquam Village Hall and Tuesday, Oct. 21, at Magnolia Library.
Patrick Anderson may be contacted at panderson@gloucestertimes.com.
