The City of Chelsea and InterPark will hold a community meeting on the 111 Eastern Avenue parking garage on Tuesday, September 29, at 6 p.m. at the Jordan Boys and Girls Club, 30 Willow Street. City Manager Fidel Maltez went door to door with InterPark representatives this week to invite residents, according to the city’s announcement.
The announcement calls it “the proposed 111 Eastern Avenue garage project.” The zoning approvals are already in hand. On September 8 the Zoning Board of Appeals granted both special permits the swap needs, one for the garage at 111 Eastern Avenue and one for the change of use at 270 Central Avenue, after the Planning Board had approved the site plan and recommended the permits. No member of the public spoke at the zoning hearing. Our account of that hearing has the details.
The project, briefly
Logan Airport employee parking now at InterPark’s garage at 270 Central Avenue would move into a new six-level garage of about 2,400 spaces on the northern part of 111 Eastern Avenue. PreFlight’s traveler parking would move from the Eastern Avenue lot into the Central Avenue garage. The southern parcel at 111 Eastern, about 12 acres, would be freed for future development by others.
What the owners told the zoning board: the garage stands about 62 feet, one level over the 50 feet allowed in the port district; a host agreement commits $750,000 to the city when the garage gets its certificate of occupancy; the project adds a traffic signal at Eastern Avenue and Bellingham Street, raises the site against coastal flooding and plants 75 trees; traffic at 270 Central falls about 34 percent while 111 Eastern adds about 3,000 trips a day, mostly outside commuting hours; and the new work adds no public access to the shoreline, because the site is in a designated port area.
Why go to a meeting now
The zoning board’s decision included conditions that are still to be met, among them design review with the city’s planning department, a security plan and a construction management plan meant to keep construction inside the parcel where possible. Those plans are where the neighborhood’s questions about construction traffic, lighting and the shoreline setback can still make a difference. City staff told the zoning board that an earlier community meeting had already been held, where construction was among the questions raised; the record does not say when it took place or how many attended.
The city says food, interpretation and childcare for children 6 and older will be provided.