By Belle Hatfield
The Vanguard
NovaNewsNow
It will be the public’s opportunity to weigh in on a proposal to rezone a big swath of land east of Pleasant Street for commercial uses when the town’s Planning Advisory Committee holds a public participation meeting on Monday, Feb. 4 at 7 p.m.
Yarmouth’s planner is recommending that the land, currently zoned industrial, be rezoned to also allow commercial uses.
The proposal was considered at a planning meeting in December. The committee recommended that it move forward to a public participation meeting.
The re-zoning proposal comes in response to an application to rezone a property at 101 Forest Street. The planner’s proposal would not only rezone that property, but also all the properties in between Clements Avenue and Pleasant Street and between Parade and Forest streets that are now zoned M-1 on the future generalized land-use map.
If the proposal were implemented these lands would become available for both commercial and industrial development. They would be in the CI-4 zone on the future generalized land use map.
The proposal is being driven by applications from businesses interested in taking advantage of the new trafficl on Forest Street due to the school.
In his report to the planning committee Arthur MacDonald said, “The owner of 101 Forest Street now wishes to establish commercial uses and take advantage of opportunities associated with the relocation of the high school to 146 Forest Street.”
MacDonald told the committee, “by including commercial uses in an existing industrially zoned area, the impacts will actually be less … it makes good planning sense to go ahead and do this proposal.”
After the public participation meeting on Monday, the committee will have to decide whether to recommend the rezoning to Yarmouth town council.
