By Adam Swift
The city’s consultant for the Chelsea Pa’Lante! Onward! master planning process provided an update to the planning board last week as it heads into the second phase of the three-phase project.
Representatives from Utile laid out the information gathered for the master plan so far, as well as discussed the general vision for Chelsea Pa’Lante, which would be the city’s first master plan in more than half a century.
Planning board members, as well as some residents, gave some feedback on what they do and do not want to see out of the master planning process.
“The city of Chelsea has not had a master plan since 1970, and that is three years before the last massive fire in West Chelsea, and that’s before receivership; that is at a moment when the city was in decline and the population was shrinking,” said Carlos Sainz Caccia, an urban designer from Utile. “So the city has shifted entirely; today it’s a growing city, it’s a diverse city. The plan is an opportunity to do three things.”
The plan will help create a statement of shared values as a community, it will help the city find a strategic and equitable vision and roadmap for the city over the next 15 years, and it will provide a framework of how to implement those community goals, said Caccia.
“It is also very important to define what the comprehensive plan will not do,” said Caccia. “It will not provide a zoning rewrite, but it will certainly (offer) recommendations of how to change or how to push for rezoning.”
In addition, Caccia said the plan will not decide how resources are expended, but that it will provide a basis for how the city can move forward over the next 15 years.
Caccia said the work on the comprehensive master plan is about halfway done.
“We started with the learning and listening phase, which both defines what we call Chelsea today, and then the values, visions, and goals,” he said.
Currently, the consultants are transitioning to the visioning and testing portion of the process, where they explore scenarios and start thinking of recommendations and determine which areas will be the key priorities in the plan.
“The third phase is where we develop, we revise, and we document and produce what effectively becomes the plan,” said Caccia.
Caccia reviewed the engagement Utile has done to get feedback about Chelsea today and goals residents want to see achieved in the plan. Through surveys and community meetings, Caccia said over 800 residents have given their feedback on the master plan.
Among the top responses to the positive aspects of Chelsea were the convenience of services available in the city, as well as the strong bonds of community, as well as its position as a gateway community for working families.
The top concerns raised by residents included the need for housing, especially affordable housing, and the desire for safer and healthier neighborhoods, as well as the need for increased economic opportunities and more green space.
Caccia said the master plan will also look at areas in the city that should be marked for major transformation, others that can be enhanced, and a third category where the current services should be maintained.
Planning Board member Mimi Ranctore asked if the plan would look at the Forbes property and have recommendations of what should be done with the property.
Caccia said there are no specific recommendations for the site in the master plan yet, but that it would be an area in need of a major transformation, along with the areas near the commuter rail station and the oil tanks.
“This is a master plan, it is a city-wide vision, but it will provide recommendations and guidelines,” said Caccia. “If you are doing a master plan for Forbes or for West Chelsea, these are the guiding principles that the city should be aiming to follow.”
Rancatore also pointed to urban development plans in other cities in the region, and said she hoped the Chelsea plan would not end up along the lines of the Boston Seaport redevelopment plan, which she said focused on mainly upper income development with little character.
“An important role of this plan is to steer the real estate market to specific areas in the city, with potentially a new set of rules so that when the market delivers, it includes provisions for affordable housing, maybe includes better urban form, better design, and maybe a more coordinated vision about how the development adds up,” said Tim Love, the project manager from Utile. “It’s one of the important purposes of a plan, and particularly in Chelsea, because the real estate market has already made it very clear that it’s interested in building near the commuter rail.”
Resident Marlene Jennings asked if the consultants were taking into account the possible construction of a new major league soccer stadium next door in Everett. Love said it was on their radar.
“I think we will consider the impacts of the draw of something like that relative to origins and destinations and how it might impact Chelsea,” said Love.
Commandants Way resident Svetlin Bordarov said he would like the plan to investigate the total percentage of industrial zones in Chelsea compared to the total land of the city.
“I don’t think even Detroit has more industrial zones than Chelsea, and if cities are built for people, I think these people want some housing, affordable housing as well,” he said. “If you don’t allow for more residential and mixed-use zones, people are not going to have a place to live, so please investigate the industrial zone percentage.”