Wednesday, February 7, 2007

This just in. Albee Square Mall headed for demolition

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

In the long run, whatever goes in there OUGHT be a "good thing" for the neighborhood (the construction in the meantime will be the burden, given its proximity to BellTel).

We'll see what plans emerge, but some good retail or a hotel could only help.

Anonymous said...

I see plenty of possible upside, but what concerns me is that the location is "as of right". From my understanding, Walmart could bypass the usual city council approval/rezoning issues and move right on in without any trouble.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that the Walmart rumors are just rumors.

guyfromdobro said...

110buyer
I hope that they are rumors as well. I've never heard of "as of right". What does that mean? What other curcumstances could pan out?

Anonymous said...

This article is a little dated, but explains "as of right" issues better than I could.

http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/landuse/20030619/12/430

Here are a couple of important snippets from the piece. You can see why Walmart would likely go this route:

"As-of-right" development does not mandate review by community boards, the City Planning Commission or City Council. No public hearings are required. Usually the developer just needs to get a building permit or go through another administrative process. This often frustrates efforts by communities to influence the design of new projects in a way that makes them compatible with existing development and the community's visions for the future of the neighborhood."

"The Zoning Resolution is filled with lots of loopholes that allow developers to build their projects (some of them very large-scale projects) as-of-right, without any sort of public review. "

guyfromdobro said...

110 Buyer
Thank you so much. I didn't realize that was even possible. Let's just keep our fingers crossed.