Future plans for the former Star Market site were among the topics addressed at the December 17 meeting.

By Adam Parise

On Tuesday, December 17, residents gathered in the cafeteria of the Arthur D. Healey School to discuss the vacant site of the former Star Market on Broadway. The attendees were not pleased with the fact that nothing has been done with the parking lot ever since the store on Broadway went out of business 12 years ago.

Another topic covered at the meeting concerned the Winter Hill Neighborhood Plan discussed at the last meeting in June. The options for this plan included waiting for a private developer to become involved by doing a demonstration project plan called eminent domain and an urban renewal plan. Approximately 95 percent of the attendees preferred the demonstration project plan.

After discussion of that at the previous meeting in June, City Council members realized that this really would not be a feasible plan for the city, so the meeting transitioned into discussion of the urban renewal plan at this meeting and the different sites that could be included.

The first site that can be included in this urban renewal plan is of course the Star Market site. Future possibilities for this plan is a five-story development on the whole site, which allows for 200 new housing units with 28,000 square feet of retail and a half acre of publicly accessible open space.

A private developer was recently interested in this site/proposal but was not able to make the deal. After conversations with the community, the developer imagined a six-story project with 310 housing units, 25,000 square feet of retail and one acre of publicly accessible open space.

The second site that can be included in this urban renewal plan is Foss Pavement. The plan imagines how incorporating the pavement into Foss Park could provide more space for assets in the park and a more environmentally friendly and pleasant walk along Broadway.

There would still be some space available for small businesses that could provide concessions for the park and an opportunity to increase the gathering green space. If this site were to become a part of the urban renewal plan, the existing community process to rethink Foss Park would play a big role in determining how to use this potential extra space.

The third site that can be included in this urban renewal plan is the Brewery Block. The potential plan for this site calls for a reconfiguration of the area to allow for better circulation of people and cars, additional open space and building of one or more houses. The plan can also include preservation of the post office building, Winter Hill Brewery and the residential building, while also redeveloping the single-story commercial building and Citizens Bank property. The redevelopment effort for this could be four or five stories, with about 80 units of housing and two acres of open space, as well as current ground-floor retail.

The fourth and final site that can be included in this urban renewal plan is Whitcomb Block. The future possibilities for this site could include a new development that would connect Broadway to Heath Street for pedestrians and incorporate 0.4 acres of open space. The new buildings could be four stories high with 130 housing units and 8,700 square feet of retail. The idea for this site would be to contemplate the four-story buildings adjacent to the property while still preserving the character of Heath Street.

Attendees were also asked to add their feedback, ideas and comments on Winter Hill on a white board. The ideas provided by the residents included but were not limited to: getting rid of condominiums, as they are regarded as cancerous to the city; to have affordable and accessible housing Clarendon Hill, which will better serve the community; and to also put in a store like Market Basket to replace the former Star Market – because people seem to go to that store more often these days – and to assure that lot does not go to waste by remaining vacant.

After the conclusion of the meeting, residents were asked to put a red dot next to a series of questions on a white board on their way out regarding the urban renewal plan of Winter Hill.

The first question asked was “Should the city pursue an urban renewal plan for Winter Hill?” and a majority of the people answered yes to this question. Only two attendees answered no to this question.

The other question asked was “Which sites of Winter Hill should be included in the urban renewal plan?” and attendees were asked to put a red dot in either the “Include” or “Do not include” column next to the following sites:

1. Star Market
2. Whitcomb Block
3. Brewery Block
4. Foss Pavement

A majority of the survey responses favored Star Market, Whitcomb Block and Foss Pavement

to be included in the plan, while a majority of the survey did not want Brewery Block to be included.

Residents who were not able to attend this meeting may submit their feedback on the Somervoice website at https://somervoice.somervillema.gov/.

For more information regarding this urban renewal plan, residents can send an email to Urban Revitalization Specialist, Lauren Drago at ldrago@somervillema.gov. For those who wish speak with her in person, Drago is also holding open office hours at 323 Broadway on Monday, January 6, from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. and also on Monday, January 13, from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m.