SEC site still in the fold
Published on September 11th, 2002
STONEHAM, MA - The proposed plan to turn the former Boston Regional Medical Center into an expansive office park, as proposed by Gutierrez Development of Burlington, was dealt a serious blow by the Secretary of Environmental Affairs review of their proposal. However, the mitigation and other issues demanded by the Office Environmental Affairs do not cause pause for the experienced and collected Arthur Gutierrez Jr.
In the response made available to the public on Aug. 19, Environmental Affairs Secretary Bob Durand said the Supplemental Draft Environ-mental Impact Report (SDEIR) fails at its intended goal and falls short on mitigating key issues such as landscape restoration, conservation restrictions over abutting land, constraints of on-site parking, mass transportation and traffic congestion affecting residential neighborhoods. All of these issues must be adequately addressed before Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency (MEPA) grants approval of the proposed office park.
Gutierrez hopes to have a comprehensive Final Supple-mental Environmental Impact Report (FSEIR) on the secretary’s desk by the end of the year. As in past environmental reviews for the project, Gutierrez must find out exactly what MEPA is requesting. “We are already out there getting more input and information to meet the requirements set forward,” said Gutierrez who was on vacation and unavailable for comment until last week.
Said Secretary Durand of the FSEIR: “The study should, at a minimum, include site history, analysis and evaluation of existing conditions, summary of findings, and recommendations of a preservation strategy for treatment of the landscape and its associated features.”
To some who have read the report, they might conclude that a strong suggestion of downsizing the proposal was intended. In fact, the EOEA asked for a reduced-build alternative if the impacts of the full-build proposal could not be adequately mitigated. However, a reduced-build proposal was never submitted. Gutierrez Development is committed to the development and will not offer a reduced-build proposal to MEPA.
“We will demonstrate that this is a doable project,” said Gutierrez.
Secretary Durand’s response to the SDEIR regarding traffic study was clear that much more analysis was needed. Gutierrez, in his quest to comply, said a traffic study of patterns suggested by Durand do not exist so, he will seek clarification through a meeting with MEPA and Environmental Affairs. “We have analyzed this over and over,” said Gutierrez. “We have gone way over local and state regulations (for traffic studies).”
The development, known as the Stoneham Executive Center calls for the remodeling of the three existing buildings on site and the construction of three more buildings for a total of 914,000 square feet of office space.
Gutierrez is cognizant of the real estate market and admits it is presently a tough market, saturated with vacancies. As they try and comply with the requirements, Gutierrez hopes that once these obstacles are cleared, the market will bounce back and be strong again.
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