City Councillors skeptical on Docklands Innovation District

By Neil Zolot

Representatives of The Davis Companies and Speck Dempsey planners presented the City Council artist conceptions of what the Docklands Innovation District off Revere Beach Parkway might look like, but some city councillors were having none of it at their meeting on Monday, March 24. “Let’s not get conned here,” Ward 1 Councillor Wayne Matewsky, in whose district the site is located, said. “We were shown other pictures of other opportunities, not a lithium battery storage facility or an animal testing lab. What we’ve seen so far is not what I expected. I was looking for uses more beneficial to the community. There’s been a mess in that neighborhood for years and people don’t want another flammable operation in the area. The liquid natural gas tanks are not too far away. In this age of terrorism, I’m not sure about the direction you’re going in,” referring to issues raised at the February 10 meeting.

“I’m concerned about the lithium batteries and can’t believe you want to put a storage facility in the middle of the facility,” Councillor-at-Large John Hanlon agreed. “I’m asking you to rethink where you want to put this thing. If you think about putting it there, I’ll be against it. They’re very dangerous. Do you know how they put out a fire in one? They let it burn. It’s a one-in-million chance, but may happen and you’d have to evacuate Everett. A lot of people could get hurt.”

He also noted that Fire Chief John Hickey expressed similar concerns at the Feb. 10 meeting.

“As an abutting property owner, I share your concern, but we’ve grown comfortable how important that is to decarbonizing the environment and the ability for companies and residents to be around it safely,” Davis Chief Development Officer Michael Cantalupa stated. “The battery facility is a very important part of how we pay for remediation,” a reference to efforts costing $200 million for decontamination, decommissioning and remediation of gas tanks, piping and contaminated soil resulting in 26 gas tanks being demolished, seven bunker tanks and 47,860 feet of pipe removed. There are also ongoing efforts to import new soil to enhance resilience against flooding and extreme weather events, often resulting in very high tides.

But Matewsky interjected, “I know you’re here to make money.”

Other possible uses are bioresearch labs, including animal testing labs, light manufacturing, office/commercial space and housing, but Cantalupa admitted, “We don’t know what the market will bring us. We’re planning for multiple uses, but there isn’t a market yet or a place to attract people to work and live. It will take time. It’s not a five- or 10-year plan. It’s closer to a 20-year plan before it’s built out, and the plan will have to react to market conditions. It will change over time.”

“We’re designing for growth so whatever comes will create a neighborhood you’re proud of, but the market will determine what happens,” Planner Jeff Speck of Speck Dempsey added.

Councillor-at-Large Katy Rogers asked about the quantity of housing and whether they would be rental units or condominiums. Cantalupa answered that a low-density plan would have 1,000 units and a high-density plan 3,000 “tilted more to rentals than condos, but the quantity could change. If we determine there isn’t a manufacturing market, you could shift the balance higher or it could flex down.”

He also said buildings, be they for housing or commercial uses, would probably be multistory. “The best outcome is a development like Assembly Row in Somerville,” he feels. “Our ideal is not for the lower density scheme.”

Animal testing is a sore point for Rogers and other city councillors, especially in light of local regulations against it, which were retained after extensive discussion at City Council meetings on December 19 and January 13. “I can’t support any project in which animal testing continues to be pushed,” she said. “It’s a deal breaker for me. It’s not fair to continue to bring it up, since there’s an ordinance that prohibits it.”

“We didn’t bring it up,” Cantalupa responded. “We were asked about it. We’re not pushing it and are creating a plan knowing it’s not allowed.”

Other interconnected elements of the plan are walkability, creation of open space and public access to the waterfront.

“The most important thing is the public realm: the spaces between the buildings,” Speck said. “My firm specializes in walkable places. How do you get people to walk? Walks have to be useful, safe and interesting. The best spaces in Everett are those lined by buildings with a nice height at the edge of a street to make it feel enclosed. What matters is if buildings build good edges on the street designed to be accommodating and comfortable, have street trees, bike lanes and the things that make it safe and comfortable to be in. We hide and build next to garages to keep the street edge active and alive,” a reference to plans to create similar walkable areas in the Docklands District.

He also outlined plans to create “public space beyond the streets,” or parks “where people can come together that form a heart for the community and allow social life to grow.”

Cantalupa called the waterfront “the great opportunity for the project,” but admitted “we’re still trying to figure out the best plan. We think of the site in three separate areas and are being very sensitive to what that will look and feel like,” a reference to the adjacent Lower Broadway Economic Development District and the Commercial Triangle Economic Development District.

He also said access to the waterfront is “not perfect” due to oil that was piped above ground for decades and may have contaminated ground.

Again, Matewsky was skeptical. “Are people going to love walking by this type of thing?” he asked rhetorically. Although Speck responded it would be away from the street, the plan is for the battery storage facility to be on both sides of Beecham Street.

Matewsky did not back down on his criticism of the project. “I envision yacht clubs, but I don’t see a lithium battery facility,” he said.