City Hall - 455 Main Street Worcester, Massachusetts

Chairperson Councilor Mero-Carlson read the item and moved to adopt the item. Order adopted.

Chairperson Councilor Mero-Carlson read the item and moved to adopt the item. Order adopted.

Chairperson Councilor Mero-Carlson read the item and moved to adopt the item. Order adopted.

Chairperson Councilor Mero-Carlson read the item and recognized the Assistant Chief Development Officer, who provided an overview of the item, including the recommendation of Planning Board following their hearing of the item, which was to extend the ML-0.5 zone to include only the property at 0 Southwest Cutoff, given the existing site constraints and zoning regulations limit potential uses of this property.

Chairperson Councilor Mero-Carlson moved to accept the recommendation provided by the Planning Board.

Recommend Approval to extend the ML-0.5 zone to include only the property at 0 Southwest Cutoff.

Chairperson Councilor Mero-Carlson read the item and recognized Councilor Wally, who recused himself from the item and left the room.

Chairperson Councilor Mero-Carlson recognized the Chief Development Officer, who provided an overview of the TIF Plan for YWCA CM QALICB, LLC. The TIF Plan is part of their YWCA’s attempt to renovate their building and expand their services.

Chairperson Councilor Mero-Carlson recognized the Assistant Chief Development Officer, who spoke to the YWCA’s project plans and hope to provide infrastructure upgrades and increased accessibility within their location. The Assistant Chief Development Officer also spoke to taxes the city would receive with the passage of the item and also spoke to the Community Benefits Agreement signed by the entity.

Chairperson Councilor Mero-Carlson recognized the following speakers:
1. Linda Cavaioli, Worcester resident, spoke in favor of the item
2. Roberta O’Brien, Paxton resident, spoke in favor of the item
3. Brian Brousseau, Leicester resident, spoke in favor of the item
4. Jo Hart, Worcester resident, spoke in favor of impowering women in the workplace

Chairperson Councilor Mero-Carlson recognized Councilor Rose, who spoke in support of the all-female led leadership team that is overseeing the development of this project on behalf of the YWCA.

Chairperson Councilor Mero-Carlson spoke to providing support for the YWCA’s project and renovations to provide for expanded services.

Chairperson Councilor Mero-Carlson moved to approve the Item.

Recommend Approval.

Chairperson Councilor Mero-Carlson read the Item and recognized Assistant Chief Development Officer, who provided an overview of the item, which included information concerning uses within an RL-7 zoning district and that from 2017 to present, six single-family attached and six multi-family low rise developments have been proposed in the RL-7 zoning district.

The Assistant Chief Development Officer provided the committee with an example of a zoning ordinance that may address some issues raised by the item which would limit the maximum dimensions of residential buildings in Residential Single-family and Residential Limited zoning districts.

Chairperson Councilor Mero-Carlson spoke to previous discussions regarding the item, which included the Planning and Regulatory Services Department sitting down with each district councilor to reviewing the zoning maps in each district for potential zone changes.

Chairperson Councilor Mero-Carlson recognized the Assistant Chief Development Officer, who explained that the process of sitting down with each district Councilor would be separate and part of the Master Planning Process for the city’s zoning map.

Chairperson Councilor Mero-Carlson recognized the Chief Development Officer, who explained the example provided to the committee was not a final product, but would instead be provided to the City Council at a later date.

Chairperson Councilor Mero-Carlson moved to hold the Item.

Recommend Hold.