Thursday, February 1, 2007 Older Editions

Keeping wraps on 'Big Box'

By Brian Messenger

The Planning Board wants Town Meeting voters to cap the size of businesses located within Andover's "Mixed Use" zones such as Shawsheen Plaza. The move would encourage a so-called big box store such as Wal-Mart to build elsewhere in town, or to establish a smaller-than-typical store in a Mixed Use zone.

"We wanted to protect the character of our downtown," said Planning Board Chairman Paul Salafia. "Some big-box businesses tend to suck the life out of a downtown."

But the proposed Town Meeting article wasn't drawn to outright bar a large retailer from coming into Andover's Mixed Use district, said Town Planner Jacki Byerly.

"It's just to prevent any one store taking a whole parcel," said Byerly. "[The parcel] might be all retail, but it could be 11 different retail businesses."

By amending the town's Zoning Bylaws, the Planning Board hopes to limit commercial establishments in Mixed Use zones to no more than 65,000 square feet in gross floor area.

Andover currently has only one Mixed Use District, a 70-acre area along North Main and Railroad streets that includes Shawsheen Plaza, according to the town's Planning Division. Two other articles submitted for Town Meeting seek to rezone portions of Haverhill Street and Punchard Avenue to Mixed Use zoning as well.

No communities in the immediate area have established similar square-footage limitations, said Byerly.

A Mixed Use district can be considered "a walkable district" that could include commercial, office, residential and retail properties, said Byerly.

"The idea behind ] the article] is the town currently only has so much land zoned as Mixed Use," said Andover's Planning Director Paul Materazzo.

"It's not to say that we don't want to have a superstore come into town," he said. "We'd want that store to respect the town's community character."

The article was created because the Planning Board recognized "there may be a possibility that a Wal-Mart-type company ... could have put enough parcels of land together to build a 100,000 square-foot building somewhere," said Salafia. "It's a planning issue and it's a preventative issue for the future."

Materazzo said there are no plans or discussions with any major big box retailers before the Planning Division, a development that would be the first of many steps for a store such as Wal-Mart, Target, Home Depot or Lowe's to come to Andover.

But Town Manager Buzz Stapczynski said the possibility of a big-box or superstore retailer eying Andover for a new location is "always a concern to us."

"What we're trying to do is ... discourage a big-box kind of approach to land use and commercial development," said Stapczynski.

"I think it's to have some control of our destiny. And that's what planning is all about," he said.

According to Byerly, Market Basket is the largest business at Shawsheen Plaza, at just under 50,000 square feet.

Such a size pales in comparison to the typical square footage of some retailers' stores: 165,000 sq. ft. for a typical Lowes, 122,000 sq. ft. for Wal-Mart, and 78,000 sq. ft. for Super Stop & Shop, according to Byerly.

New mixed use land

Following Town Meeting, Andover could have three Mixed Use zones.

A privately-submitted article to rezone six parcels on Punchard Avenue from Single Family Residence A to Mixed Use was turned into the town clerk's office by Philip Sullivan, an attorney who operates out of a law office on the street.

A similar rezoning effort for 27 acres owned by Merrimack College at 175 Haverhill St. from Single Family Residence B to Mixed Use is also being sought by the Planning Division. The college wanted to see the land converted into office use last year, but the Planning Board asked them to wait for a year while the town looked at the situation.

Salafia believes rezoning the land to Mixed Use will be best for the town.

"It could be housing, it could be retail, it could be office, it could be medical," said Salafia. "It's all really about smart growth and good planning ... The college agreed."

The Planning Board will have a public hearing on the proposed Zoning Bylaw amendments Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the third-floor conference room at Town Offices.