By Adam Swift La Colaborativa will be before the zoning board of appeals on Tuesday, Sept. 9 for a possible vote on the special permits for its proposed economic development center at 50 Heard St. Last week, the planning board approved the major site plan review for the project and recommended that the ZBA approve the special permit and variance requests before it. The floorplan for the project calls for a four-story structure that will eventually house new workforce training, vocational education, and small business development programming. While the address is listed as Heard Street, the main entrance will be on Sixth Street. In addition to housing the main entrance, there will also be a small plaza on that side of the building. During the planning board meeting, La Colaborativa Chief Operating Officer Alex Train, architect David Gamble and other consultants fielded questions about stormwater management, noise mitigation, hours of operation, and parking for the project. Train noted that the economic development center is seeking to stay open until 8 p.m. since there will be early evening programs geared to working people. As for parking, Train stated that La Colaborativa has a 10-year lease with the state for use of the parking lot under Rte. 1. He added that many of the students and staff who will use the building will likely walk or take public transportation. “Overall, I think this is a fantastic project for Chelsea, the people of Chelsea … it is so challenging finding a contractor or a plumber and they are all so freaking expensive,” said planning board member Eric Czernizer. “My top concern is potential sound coming from shop classes that could go to 8 o’clock.” Gamble said that about 30 percent of the workshops are glass, but that it is a high insulation glass. “Then we have a 15-inch thick wall around it on the HVAC and carpentry union,” said Gamble. “They are facing south, but a portion is glass.” Train said that none of the heavy equipment, such as furnaces and heat pumps in the HVAC labs, will be stationed in the glass area. City Council President Norieliz DeJesus, who also works for La Colaborativa, spoke in favor of the project at the planning board hearing. “I think many of us have heard, and my colleagues and I have discussed for many years now the challenges we have with being able to provide vocational trades education for our children in Chelsea,” she said. “This is a great opportunity to do that. I think it is very important to ask all the questions that you guys are asking because we also want to make sure that we are taking care of our neighborhood. But I am also excited because this is a conversation that we are having in Chelsea; as someone who grew up in this community this has only been a dream to be able to have access to some of these courses to provide our families an opportunity to grow their income.”