Plan for complex opposed

"Borat" and "The Queen" may be drawing crowds at Waltham's Embassy Cinema, but zoning was packing them in at City Hall.

A crowd that filled the seats of the City Council chambers and spilled into the halls turned out Monday night to object to a seven-story apartment and retail complex proposed for the corner of Main and Moody streets. Asked by city officials for their stance on the project, 65 stood in opposition and none stood in favor.

Northland Investment Corp. wants the City Council to create a new zoning district, to be known as Business D, to accommodate its plan for 350 apartments and 35,000 square feet of retail space on the 4.5-acre lot. The apartments would be one- and two-bedrooms, with 35 set aside at below-market rates.

Attorney Robert E. Connors Jr. , who represents Northland, said that the existing zoning for the site, referred to as Business C, would make developing the site less cost-effective.

The proposed zone would allow more residential units in the same amount of space, buildings as high as 90 feet, underground parking, larger signs, first-floor apartments, and fast-food restaurants.

Tentatively called Moody and Main on the Common, the complex would consist of three buildings. Along Main they would rise to a height of 75 feet and along Charles Street to 85 feet, Connors said.

Connors said that while the zoning language refers to fast - food restaurants, the developer does not intend to bring in eateries like McDonald's. He said that the Building Department had indicated that any restaurant offering take out and with fewer than 50 seats would be considered fast - food.

Connors called the proposal "a boon for downtown business" that would revitalize the area between Main Street and the riverfront and encourage activity 24 hours a day.

Besides drawing the small group of neighborhood activists who usually attend council hearings, Monday night's session attracted dozens of new faces, including some who said this was their first council meeting. Among them were new residents, people in their 20s and 30s, and Moody Street merchants.

They all criticized the zoning proposal and the scale of the apartment-retail complex. Several questioned the propriety of the proposal, saying that it amounted to spot zoning designed to benefit a single property owner.

Fred Kimberk , an architect who owns several renovated historic buildings in the downtown area, said he admired aspects of the complex's design, but objected to the provisions and intent of the proposed zoning district. Kimberk said that while the developer may maximize profits, others would bear the cost through increased traffic congestion and lower property values in the buildings' shadows.

"I'm for the development of this site, but I think it has to be sensible development and appropriate to the city of Waltham," said Kimberk.

Joan Garniss , city planning chair woman for the Waltham League of Women Voters, asked how the new zoning district would fit into the city's master plan.

"We don't understand why a new zone is needed in order to revitalize the city," Garniss said.

A Calvary Street resident said he worried about what would happen to his Saturday morning ritual -- coffee at Cafe on the Common followed by vegetable shopping at the Waltham Farmer's Market -- and summer concerts under the setting sun on Waltham Common.

In an interview Tuesday , Connors said that the developers hadn't determined what would happen to the Farmer's Market, which is held in the parking lot of a building that would be razed for the project.

Alex Green , co-owner of Back Pages Books on Moody Street, objected to the timing of the hearing.

"It does not sit well with me at all that this meeting was planned for two weeks before Christmas, or one week before Hanukkah," Green said. "It was not very considerate of the merchants on Moody Street."

Saying he closed his shop two hours early to attend the hearing, Green expressed concern that the project's retailers would drive him and other small shop owners out of business.

Resident Bill Fowler said approval of Business D would pave the way for "the end of downtown Waltham as we know it."

"Time after time, developers come to the council and ask for permission to do more than they can do by right. . . . This is the worst of all of them," said Fowler, asking that the council weigh the project's costs against its benefits to the city.

Councilors requested a long list of information from the developer, including scaled drawings comparing the project's height with that of existing buildings on the site and those nearby.

They also wanted information about the maximum density that would be allowed under existing law and under the proposed zone.

The council voted to refer the matter to the Board of Survey and Planning's Jan. 3 meeting and the Rules and Ordinance Committee's Jan. 16 meeting.

Stephanie Siek can be reached at ssiek@globe.com.