Town Meeting Members begin preliminary discussions on proposed zoning article for Cliftondale

  What is it going to take to get property owners to invest in the revitalization of Cliftondale to make it a vibrant business district again? And what will it take for developers to become part of that revitalization, with perhaps an anchor store or restaurant that draws people down into the square?

  Precinct 2 Town Meeting Member Joe Vecchione – the driving force behind the most recent Cliftondale revitalization effort since getting first elected to Town Meeting in 2019 – and about 20 other Saugus residents who joined him on a two-hour-and-15-minute-long “Zoom” Meeting on Cliftondale Zoning on Wednesday (Jan. 25) explored those questions.

  “I have the chops to write the article and I can mold it to the wishes of Town Meeting members,” Vecchione told the videoconferencing audience as he led a wide-ranging discussion on the logistics and components of an article he plans to submit to this year’s Annual Town Meeting that would create a zoning overlay in the Cliftondale District.

  “At the end of the day, we have to create a bylaw that’s implemental – not just a symbol,” he said.

  Vecchione, a lifelong resident of Cliftondale, has the planning expertise to author or do some major drafting of a zoning article for Cliftondale. But he wants to seek input from the Town Meeting members who will be voting on the zoning proposal that he’s targeting for the spring. A collaborative effort in which he reaches out to every Town Meeting member is the only way it will pass, he said.

  Ten of the 50 members of the Annual Town Meeting and three selectmen were among those participating in the “Zoom” meeting. Vecchione plans other sessions – including an in-person meeting for next month – as he reaches out to his colleagues.

  “It’s clear there is disagreement in how we get to the solution,” Vecchione told the group. “We have to find a common ground,” he added.

  Precinct 2 Town Meeting Member Christopher Riley said he believes that the developer’s perspective was missing from the discussion. “Let’s get people who know what they’re talking about to participate,” Riley said.

  Board of Selectmen Chair Anthony Cogliano and several other speakers were critical of the town’s dealings with developers. He suggested that Vecchione invite Kevin Procopio, a successful developer who was frustrated working in Saugus, to a future meeting. “I don’t know one developer in Saugus who is happy developing in town,” Cogliano said.

  Precinct 10 Town Meeting Peter Manoogian countered, “I don’t know many residents who are happy with the developers.”

  “I think we need to do a better job as a community, making sure that we get what we want,” Manoogian said.

  “I’m not happy with the way Hilltop looks; I’m not happy with the way Essex Landing looks,” he said of two major developments along the town’s Route 1 corridor. But he also said later in the discussion that it is important to include developers in the discussion about the revitalization of Cliftondale.

  Precinct 2 Town Meeting Member Peter A. Rossetti Jr., whose family has owned an insurance business in Cliftondale for years, said he knew a developer who left Saugus because of difficulty he had working with the town. “We have a Planning Department that hasn’t gone out and worked with people,” Rosetti said.

  “Why isn’t our Planning Department more involved in this? That would be my question,” he said.

  Board of Selectmen Vice Chair Debra Panetta said she is disappointed that property owners weren’t more involved. “We can incentivize all we want, but I’m not sure the property owners are engaged,” she said.

  But Panetta noted that she believes the town has done more work in Cliftondale in the past year than the last hundred years.

  Jeannie Meredith and others expressed concerns about the character of Cliftondale being ruined by high-rise apartments. “Everyone is telling me they don’t want to see more apartments,” Meredith said. “Cliftondale is just not the area for it,” she said.

  But in order to attract developers to the area, any zoning would have to accommodate mixed use involving some apartments, others said.

  Housing is definitely a component of revitalization efforts, according to Vecchione. He noted that affordable housing should be a component of any zoning measure. Vecchione said that Saugus is one of a handful of communities deficient in the percentage of affordable housing and needs to do something before the state intervenes.

  “I’m concerned that we’re going to lose our ability to plan our future,” he said.

  “I don’t want to see this area clogged up with housing that doesn’t fit in the area,” Manoogian said.

  Precinct 9 Member Dan Kelly said he thinks the Post Office is taking up too much space in Cliftondale and should probably relocate. “If you don’t get somebody to come in with an anchor store, I don’t think you are going to see any change down there,” Kelly said.