Braintree Reduces Parking Space Requirements At South Shore Plaza

BRAINTREE, MA — The Braintree Planning Board voted Tuesday to relax parking space requirements at the South Shore Plaza.

The 4-1 vote reduces the required number of parking spaces from 4.5 to 4 per 1,000 square feet of leased building space. This means space requirements were eased by more than 800 spaces.

The rule relaxation gives the South Shore Plaza more room to expand. The mall currently has 7,214 parking spaces, just 11 more than the old requirement. This meant before the vote, the mall could add less than 2,500 square feet of space to its 1.5 million-square-foot facility. The changes reduce the parking requirement to 6,406 spaces.

Although the vote gives the Simon Property Group, the mall's owner, more opportunities for expansion, planning board member Darryl Mikami said new businesses will still require the board's approval.

"We're not giving Simon a free pass," Mikami said.

The lone vote against the change came from William Grove. He said he would have rather reviewed the requirement when and if the mall submitted new development proposals.

"We have to be very cautious because this facility is located poorly," Grove said. "It's right in the middle of a residential area."