Above: An update on Costco’s pursuit of a project in Southborough. (map from GIS map using Google satellite images prior to demolition of EMC building)
A high-interest retail project is taking important steps and looking for key approvals this summer. That includes decisions by both Town and state officials.
Approvals in the hands of Town officials
Costco filed an application for zoning variances with the Zoning Board of Appeals. The hearing will open on Wednesday, July 15th.
To pursue building the big-box wholesale club at 21 Coslin Drive, the business is asking for the ZBA to approve exceptions to the default restrictions for project height and setbacks (how close structures can be built to property lines).
The hearing notice specifies:
The petitioner is seeking a Variance to allow lighting fixtures that exceed the maximum allowable height and retaining walls that encroach on the front and side yard setbacks. The property is located in the Industrial Park district. Relief is requested under Section 174-10.D(1)(d), Section 174-12.1.O(2), Section 174-8.6 E(3)(a), and Section 174-8.6 E(3)(c). A copy of the application may be requested through the Principal Assistant to the Zoning Board of Appeals at (508) 485-0717 or ldavis@southboroughma.gov.
The meeting will take place in the Town House hearing room, but I expect there will also be zoom participation.
The Costco project is one that many residents have been eagerly awaiting. But it will also be under scrutiny by those worried about its impact on nearby open space and less nearby neighborhoods.
Before voters approved zoning changes to open the possibility of Costco coming to Southborough, some residents asked questions about the potential traffic impacts and other details. They were assured that the project would go through Site Plan approval hearings to deal with those issues before it can be built.
At their most recent meeting, the Planning Board learned that Costco hopes to submit its major site plan application to the board after it gets variances approved by the ZBA.
Approval that is out of the Town’s hands
Even if the zoning and siting are all approved, there’s another important approval the project hinges on. . . the alcohol license. This spring, the Town petitioned the state for an additional license for retail sales that the Select Board could approve for Costco’s use.
In a June Select Board meeting, Town Administrator Mark Purple updated that the state legislature’s “House Council” made tweaks to the version that would be considered by the state House and Senate.
Purple described it as giving the Town a 2 year deadline to award the license. It also adds a clause that would return the license to the state legislature if it goes dormant in the future and isn’t reassigned within 3 years.
Last week, the petition was finally included in a joint committee hearing of the state legislature. It appears that the petition is one of many bills that the house and senate have yet to act on. (It doesn’t look like the committee has even recommended it for a vote yet.) But the legislature doesn’t officially “recess” until the end of July.
The state legislature’s control of the ability to decide the number of licenses each town is allowed, rather than allowing cities and towns their own freedom to decide, has been widely criticized as creating a too-long bureaucratic tie up that complicates economic development. But it’s a control the legislature has been unwilling to let go of.
