After Board of Selectmen heard a report Tuesday night that identified locations ripe for development, the board looked at what it might do to jump-start the process in those areas.
Town officials and board members from the economic development and grants office, as well as the planning office, presented the Town of Walpole Priority Development Sites Report to Selectmen. The report - prepared by Watertown-based consulting firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. - identified six spots for the town to consider for "expedited permitting" adopted last year.
Those locations were: Goldies, Inc., an auto salvage business on Rte. 1A; the old Bird Machine and Cofsky property on Neponset Street; the former Blackburn and Union Privileges site on South Street; the Bargain Outlet site on Rte. 1; the Michelle's and Kahana sites in Walpole Center.
The six properties were selected from an initial list of 28 that Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. presented back in November, said Larry Pitman, chairman of the Economic Development Commission. These are "the best, the more viable, the more doable at some point," Pitman said.
Under the state "expedited permitting" program, called Chapter 43D, a community agrees to act on a proposal within 180 days. According to Town Planner Don Johnson - speaking at the time the town adopted the program last year - the idea behind it was to streamline permitting to encourage growth of the type a town wants, in the area where it wants it.
As discussion last night reiterated, the town used the Chapter 43D program to "fast track" plans for the more than 100,000 square-foot expansion and revitalization of the Rte. 1 Walpole Mall.
Pitman stressed he didn't want the report to "sit on the shelf" and gather dust. He asked the board for some direction as to how the report's findings might be used.
Selectmen Chairman Al DeNapoli zeroed in on the Kahana building, an empty, brick structure at routes 1A and 27 in the heart of downtown. He wondered if the board might be able to pressure "the owner to do something down there." He suggested a phone call might bring the owner to the table. Pitman suggested a letter.
Town Administrator Michael Boynton echoed DeNapoli's frustration, calling it "warranted" because of the length of time it has been abandoned. But he suggested coming up with a firm vision - maybe some landscaping or initial architectural plans, or proposed zoning changes or parking solutions - to present to the owner of any of the six sites. That vision of the "look and function" of areas in the town will show the owners of those properties - the town owns none of them, he stressed - that if they work with the town, the town will work with them.
Boynton stressed that it was a "multi-year process." Pitman said there was a chance that a visual might persuade the owner of the Kahana building that there was an advantage to working with the town.
DeNapoli worried that, with the owner of the Kahana building, there was no forward movement at all, despite efforts to communicate. At the same time, he stressed that he did not want to "close the door."
Selectmen Michael Caron proposed sending a letter to the owner. Boynton recommended waiting for the process to work for a little while longer. Don't send the letter, yet, he said. The board decided not to send the letter.
