Peabody Council Pushes Zoning Back One Month

Five years of intense debate, meetings, discussions and hard work to revise the city's downtown zoning ordinances will have to wait at least one more month before the City Council votes on whether to approve the changes.

The council voted to recess Thursday night's scheduled public hearing until April 28 with the expectation that they would receive the Planning Board's recommendation by April 7.

Council President Anne Manning-Martin said the Planning Board received the proposed zoning changes from the Community Planning and Development Office on Thursday and held a public hearing on March 17, but the board requested more time to make their recommendation.

Before Thursday's public hearing was recessed, some of proponents continued to voice their support for the zoning changes to help revitalize the downtown area.

"If the downtown is to be revitalized, revision of the zoning will be the catalyst for future development," said Michelle Talisman, chair of the Peabody Area Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee.

Karen Sawyer, director of the Community Development and Planning Office, previously told Peabody Patch the zoning changes could potentially spur economic development in the downtown area.

Peabody Patch previously reported the most significant change to the map will come in the downtown area, where what was once a combination of light industrial and business central districts has now been rezoned to prevent both large industry and housing from increasing.

Talisman told City Councilors the proposed zoning changes would "provide a foundation on what to build upon" for future development.

The corridor behind Main Street, including Caller Street and parts of Pulaski and Walnut Streets will now be zoned as either general business or general business downtown. This will allow any variety of business to come into the area provided there is no heavy trucking or high rise buildings built on the site.

New businesses will be given guidelines for everything from building height to signage, parking, landscaping and outdoor decor. The city is also looking to raise its ban on outdoor dining in the downtown area in the hopes of bringing in some more attractive restaurant business.

City resident Richard Medina spoke to the Peabody Veterans Memorial High School Student Government representatives  who participated in Thursday night's meeting and said they and other residents should take the time to look at the proposal.

"For you young kids, this is what Peabody is going to look like when I'm gone," Medina said.

Medina said the last time Peabody's zoning ordinances were revised was in 1978 when former Mayor Nicholas Mavroules was in office and former Mayor Peter Torigian was a City Councilor. He said they helped shape the course of the downtown for the next 30-plus years.

He urged his fellow citizens to take the time to really study the proposed zoning changes so they can understand what their city will look like in the next 25 years.