Above: The developer working with Costco has purportedly committed to siting the full building on the Southborough side of the border. But first, 2/3 of a Special Town Meeting would need to approve new zoning to allow the business to apply for a special permit on the old EMC parcel. (image cropped from Town GIS map)
A representative for the owner of the old EMC parcel seeking a new zoning use revealed the big fish they’ve been working to land in Southborough. According to Atlantic Management’s attorney, they are in negotiations with Costco.
The retailer was revealed during Monday night’s Planning Board hearing during an explanation for the developer’s urgency in trying to add “Highway Major Retail” as a use in the Industrial Park (IP) zone. The following night, the Select Board painted the picture of a game changing project to revitalize economic development in Southborough.
[Editor’s Note: If you aren’t familiar with Costco, scroll to the bottom of this post to read more.]
Planning Board’s Hearing
The Planning Board held the special meeting last night to focus on the Zoning Bylaw proposed by Atlantic Management and run possibilities by Town Counsel. In the prior meeting, two members had urged the developer to propose a new overlay zone on its parcel rather than adding a use to the entire IP zoning district.
In the meeting, Counsel Jay Talerman conservatively agreed with Buckley that if they changed tactics to propose an overlay, the board should issue new hearing notice. That would delay the process, making it difficult (if not impossible) to be ready for the Special Town Meeting scheduled for October 27th.
But, answering a follow up question, Talerman confirmed the board could take an unusual approach that was “essentially” the same as an overlay without advertising a new hearing. That was to specify the applicable parcels (or non-applicable parcels) under the use definition.
Planning Member Marnie Hoolahan initially pushed for the proposed zoning change to be delayed to Annual Town Meeting in the spring, and incorporated into the broader IP zoning changes the board has been working on. She stressed that she had a “process” issue with a developer bringing in and pushing rushed changes. She opined that the zoning should go through the same level of rigor and vetting that the board applies to its own zoning bylaws.
In prior discussions, Buckley and some Planning members focused on including use restrictions that would eliminate potential that the use could be applied to other IP parcels where residential abutters would object. (The use is for a facility with “no less than” 50,000 sqft of retail space.) At that time, Hoolahan and member Debbie DeMuria had stressed their desire for overlay zoning.
Chair Meme Luttrell asked if limiting the use to specific parcels in that particular area on the south side of Rte 9 would alleviate their concerns. The answer was no. Hoolahan and DeMuria indicated they would prefer taking time to draft a bylaw that takes into account all of the new uses and changes that make sense for the IP zone. (Though both said they were in favor of a project with the use on the targeted site.)
During Hoolahan’s comments, she referred to an “unintentional threat”, she perceived was made last week by Atlantic’s attorney Bob Buckley — that his client would move on to another town if the bylaw wasn’t quickly passed. She said that in that case, he would have to find a new property and go through the same process.
Buckley clarified that he wasn’t making a threat about Atlantic’s intent. He was warning that the potential retailer (Costco) had identified other potential sites in other Towns. They had made the case to Costco that the parcel was the best site, other than the zoning hurdle. Later, Atlantic Management’s CEO Joseph Zink explained that they didn’t control the timeline, since they also don’t control the other potential sites that Costco could choose if Southborough doesn’t pass the zoning change in time.
Member Lisa Braccio supported the zoning change. Braccio initially asked for an edit to clarify that the lot couldn’t access any scenic roads. With the added “guard rail” of identifying parcels, she was in favor of the bylaw. She told the board that she had heard from members of the public that tell her they want greater economic development on Rte 9 to keep down/lower their residential taxes. Although not present, member Alan Belniak submitted a letter to be read into the record, expressing his support for the zoning and the financial opportunity.
Luttrell said that Atlantic’s zoning was headed to Special Town Meeting, placed on the Warrant by the Select Board. The Planning Board’s role was just to hold the hearings and to write a report to Town Meeting.
To avoid a bylaw being passed by voters with unintended consequences, Luttrell wanted to help ensure it was “in the best shape possible”. She was highly in favor of identifying parcels. If that wasn’t added to the language, then there was other edits she would want to “tighten up” the wording. Buckley indicated that he may want to do both.
During the discussion, DeMuria asked Town Counsel if, in the special permitting process the, Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) would be able to waive any of the specified restrictions for the use. Talerman assured that isn’t possible unless they added language to allow it. The only waivers the ZBA could grant are the dimensional variances the board can give (for height, setbacks, etc.) Southborough no longer allows Use Variances.
Still, later DeMuria asked to have the bylaw specify that the Planning Board would be the special permit authority for the use. (If that wording wasn’t included, the ZBA would be the granting authority by default.) DeMuria didn’t specify her reasoning.
In earlier discussions about other parcels, some board members (including DeMuria) indicated discomfort with giving the discretion to the un-elected ZBA. But the board had also (unsuccessfully) sought to take over special permitting for ADUs as a way to streamline the permitting processes. In this case, if the Planning Board holds the hearings for the Special Permit, they could simultaneously hold the required hearings for the Major Site Plan Review. That would reduce the number of boards the developer needs go before.
Hoolahan didn’t suggest specific edits. She instead urged that Luttrell meet with the developer, Town Counsel, and the Town Planner between hearings to finalize the language. She warned that if Town officials make an amendment on the floor to fix wording of a zoning Article, that unravels everything, leading to failure. Talerman agreed.
The board’s next hearing on the topic is scheduled for Monday, September 29th at 7:00 pm. (I expect it will take place in the Town House Hearing Room and on zoom, as is their usual practice for regular meetings.) It’s their last scheduled hearing before the deadline to submit final text for the Warrant for the Special Town Meeting.
Select Board’s Reaction
In last night’s Select Board meeting, public commenter Claire Reynolds urged the public to learn about the zoning opportunity. She objected to implications by Planning members that the developer was dictating terms and rushing the process. She pointed out that the item had been on Planning agendas since June and the developer had been working collaboratively with the Town to make changes.
Select Board member Kathy Cook said she was disconcerted by Planning’s discussion, which she called “A Tale of Two Cities”.
Now that the information about Costco was public, Cook and member Al Hamilton were excited to share their takes on the benefits of the project. They emphasized the the revenue that the “magnet” store could bring into Southborough. They described it as the type of economic development the Town has unsuccessfully sought for decades.
Cook stated that Atlantic Management committed to siting the full Costco building on the Southborough side of the parcel which extends into Westborough. That allows the Town to reap the full financial benefit. Hamilton estimated that the business alone would bring in an additional $3-400,000 in revenue to Southborough. He noted that is equivalent to about 10% of the revenue the Town currently collects from businesses on Rte 9.
But he was more excited about the additional businesses that they believe are attracted to open around a Costco. He predicted the millions in revenue it would bring in would equal all of the revenue from commercial properties on Rte 9. But he warned that the zoning for Costco was a “test case”. If the zoning change fails to pass, he believed that not only would Southborough lose that opportunity, but it would deter other development.
Cook enthused that it was the perfect business for the location near 495. She pointed out that Costco’s peak hours are on noon on Saturday when Southborough is dead. That means it won’t cause problems for weekday commuters.
Both stressed the fact that the land has gone underused for decades. Cook reminded that after EMC purchased the property, Dell bought them out before the envisioned use was fully realized. Then Covid hit. Prior to Covid, Southborough’s commercial tax base heavily relied on office buildings. Economic changes have shifted the tax burden from 80% residential/20% commercial to 84%/16%. They believe this project is needed to reverse that trend.
Answering a question from member Tim Fling, Cook confirmed that the figures estimated in a meeting with Atlantic Management and Town officials would have been enough to cover the debt service for the Neary Building project that failed to pass. But she didn’t want to hang her hat on those numbers. The Advisory Committee will be working on a report to provide Town Meeting voters with a better estimate.
Cook said that before language is finalize, feedback should be solicited from the ZBA on the proposed change to the special permit granting authority.
Chair Andrew Dennington said that since the Select Board is unanimous in supporting the Article, they might decide to be its official sponsors. Cook opined that they should be.
The Article is slated to be the first one on the Special Town Meeting Warrant. That meeting will open on Monday, October 27th at 6:30 pm.
What is Costco?
If you are somehow not familiar, Costco is a popular membership-based wholesale chain that has a reputation for breeding customer loyalty and attracting customers from a distance. The closest location to Southborough is Waltham (and I know some residents who shop there).
This summer, the Today Show ran a story on the chain’s booming business.
According to Buckley, Costco is about to begin doing public outreach to let Southborough residents know how good it is for communities.
