By Adam Swift
La Colaborativa will be able to move forward with building a gazebo at its new Survival Center at the corner of Sixth and Arlington Streets.
Last week, the Planning Board determined that the proposed change in the site plan replacing a shed with the gazebo was a minor change, and did not require a public hearing.
Philip White, the workforce development manager at La Colaborativa, said the gazebo will serve as a community space, as well as an area where people can rest and get some shade after standing in line for the food bank at the site. There will be no loss of parking spaces on the property as a result of the change in the site plan.
Planning Board member Mimi Rancatore cast the lone dissenting vote on considering the gazebo as a minor change to the site plan.
Rancatore noted that the La Colaborativa proposal is a large project, and that the space could be best utilized for other purposes.
However, several Planning Board members said they did not believe it was up to them to dictate how the space should be used.
La Colaborativa will be before the ZBA later this month for approval of its kitchen spaces.
The facility will have a community kitchen where there will be educational programs about nutrition and healthy eating. There is also an entrepreneur kitchen with space for four small businesses or residents looking for their own commercial kitchen space to expand home businesses.
White said there will be a thorough training and vetting process for the use of the entrepreneur kitchens.
The main building on the site will have space for administrative and emergency services, as well as the food bank.
Also on the property is a standalone workforce development office for training and educational programs, according to White.