By Adam Swift
District 7 City Councilor Manuel Teshe, far left, celebrated with a number of Admirals Hill residents following the ZBA vote last week denying two special permits for a food distribution facility on Justin Drive.
By a 4-1 vote, the Zoning Board of Appeals denied issuing two special permits for the proposed Boston Provisions food processing facility proposed at 100 Justin Drive last week.
The vote came following several months of lengthy planning and zoning board meetings attended by numerous Admirals Hill residents speaking in opposition to the project. In addition to the public input, nearly 1,000 people signed a petition opposing the project.
It also came one day after a city council vote to send a proposed change in the zoning ordinance that would set a greater buffer zone for fish processing facilities to the planning board for a public hearing.
While that proposed amendment, which would have revised a council ordinance vote taken in January, would not have had a direct impact on the Boston Provisions project, several councilors asked the ZBA to deny the special permits at the Tuesday, Sept. 9 meeting.
Last week’s ZBA meeting started with several of the principals from Boston Provisions addressing concerns about the project that have been raised by residents and highlighting some of the proposed changes to the project.
The special permits would have allowed Boston Provisions to establish a seafood processing and distribution facility in the Industrial District and extend the use into the adjoining lot in the Naval Hospital Commercial District. Boston Provisions was seeking to lease about a quarter of the existing space of the former Signature Bread facility on Justin Drive.
“This evening, our request is clear,” said Boston Provisions CEO Mike Moniz. “Approval for a special permit allowing seafood processing at the proposed Boston Provisions facility at 100 Justin Drive. Boston Provisions is a premium food distribution company made up of three divisions – Savenor’s Butchery, Wulf’s Fish, and a specialty gourmet division. Seafood processing represents less than 9 percent, just 6,830 square feet, at the facility, which is the major reason why we are here today.”
Moniz then walked through a typical day at the facility, including the incoming and outgoing traffic and how the product is received, packaged, and shipped out to local restaurants and businesses.
“Our operations are structured, predictable, and centered on quality and efficiency,” he said.
Moniz said at the end of the day, the facility is thoroughly washed and sanitized and all product secured in cold storage.
“Nothing is left behind to cause odor or waste issues,” said Moniz. “In short, our daily operation looks much like a modern, well-run food distribution company similar to companies that exist in the surrounding area.”
However, a number of residents raised the concerns they have listed at a number of past hearings on the project, including increased truck traffic, noise, odors, and issues with the notification of abutters before the council zoning change that allowed for seafood processing with a special permit, and with the Justin Drive project itself. Residents also raised concerns about the facility being with feet of nearby residential units, as well as schools, parks, and the Florence Center for Living.
District 7 Councilor Manuel Teshe, who proposed the previous night’s amendment to the seafood zoning ordinance, asked the ZBA to deny, or at least delay, the granting of the special permits.
“The only thing we do not want is for seniors and for anybody else in our community to be impacted negatively by the production of the company,” said Teshe. “One of the things that people know me by is that I am a very calm person, I’ve rarely been angry. I’m angry today, I’m not angry at you (the ZBA), but I am angry because I feel like I have been lied to, and one of the things that I’ve explained to many residents is that when the council took the vote to make the zoning amendment, we took a vote after being told everybody was fine with it and nobody had a complaint.”
Teshe said he did not want to blame anyone specifically, but that he believed there was a misconception that the zoning change was going to be good for the city.
“I know you understand the level of seriousness that your vote has here today,” said Teshe. “These are all the people that are going to be impacted by your decision today, so I want you to know again that the council yesterday unanimously passed a recommendation to the planning board to make a 300-foot buffer that would prevent this exact development at this exact location, because again, the city council made a mistake. I would plead with you not to let this mistake be permanent, allow us to bring it back to the table and to discuss better steps to continue further.
“The city has already expressed huge support for this; the city manager has written a dozen letters in support of the company,” said Teshe. “I have met with the company, again, they are good, they’re just not good for this location.”
Councilors Tanairi Garcia, Kelly Garcia, and Melinda Vega also spoke at the ZBA meeting asking the board not to approve the special permits.
ZBA member Joan Cromwell cast the one vote in favor of approving the special permits for the project.
“The community has spoken, but I think Wulf Fish has spoken, too,” said Cromwell. “I think this company’s due diligence, honesty, and impeccable reputation speaks, and I think in terms of social, economic, and community needs, I think they spoke in terms of jobs and economic workforce development, I think that they are going to really improve our community.”
ZBA members Joe Mahoney and Marilyn Vega-Torres said they both visited the Boston Provisions fish facility in Boston and praised its cleanliness and odor control, but both noted that the concerns of the neighbors in Chelsea deserved to be taken into account.
“I think that it is great that they want to come to Chelsea and develop in Chelsea; there are a lot of corporations that want to come to Chelsea, it’s a beautiful city, but we have to also take into consideration what the residents want,” said Vega-Torres.
Following the vote by the ZBA last week, Teshe said the decision was a win for Chelsea residents. “When people organize and speak out, the city listens,” he said.