MARLBOROUGH – A developer’s application for a special permit to build a 10,074-square-foot mixed-use project near downtown Marlborough will appear on the agenda for the next City Council meeting, marking a step toward an eventual vote by the council.
At their meeting on Monday of last week, the City Council voted 8-1 to send the application to the city’s legal department, which will put the application in the proper format as a formality before the council’s next meeting on July 25.
The lone vote against this step came from Councilor Mark Oram, who said that he has not seen a peer-reviewed traffic impact assessment that he and other councilors requested at a June 8 Urban Affairs Committee meeting.
“We can make a difference once we see that traffic peer assessment, if indeed it’s showing that other neighborhood roads may get congested,” Oram said.
Oram said that the council is moving too fast on this topic, saying that the project should stay in committee for a traffic review assessment.
First pitched earlier this year, the proposed project dubbed Alta Marlborough would be located on the corner of Lincoln and Mechanic streets, bringing 276 units and 470 on-site parking spaces to Marlborough’s French Hill neighborhood.
Developers have also discussed building a parking lot and public restroom along the nearby Assabet River Rail Trail, which they would then convey to the city.
Councilors have generally spoken positively about the project, with Councilor Don Landers calling it a “real asset” to the city during a balloon test over the proposed site.
“It’s interesting,” Councilor Kathleen Robey said during the balloon test. “It is going to definitely change this corner.”
Robey did note that parking lot and restroom plan, though, telling the Community Advocate that she was concerned about possible congestion issues in the area.
Robey later read comments from Conservation Officer Priscilla Ryder and City Engineer Tom DiPersio at the Urban Affairs Committee’s June 8 meeting.
Ryder wrote that the project appears to meet all the city’s zoning and safety requirements, while DiPersio described himself as generally favorable toward the project.
Robey was absent at last week’s meeting. Councilor Christian Dumais, meanwhile, has been abstaining from the votes on this project.
Speaking to the Community Advocate last Wednesday, Dumais said that he had recused himself because a family member owns property in the area.
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