Sharon embraces retail zone

Even to outsiders, the town of Sharon has long been known as an attractive bedroom community, though an expensive one because of its high property values and taxes and its stubborn resistance to commercial development.

Now, in what some are calling a watershed moment, this sleepy suburb near Interstate 95 has awakened to embrace a plan to bring a retail and office project to a 57-acre site next to the highway.

A Special Town Meeting attended by nearly 2,000 residents recently voted overwhelmingly to support zoning changes and other measures needed for the proposed lifestyle center, known as Sharon Commons. Michael Intoccia of Foxborough and the Congress Group of Boston, who are jointly developing the upscale project, plan to begin seeking permits in June, with hope of breaking ground next year.

The size of the Town Meeting turnout, one of the largest in Sharon's history, and the resounding approval took even some supporters by surprise.

"I think it's a tremendous turning point," said William Heitin, chairman of the Board of Selectmen and one of many town leaders who have enthusiastically welcomed the project. Selectmen, the Planning Board, the Finance Committee, the Conservation Commission, and the Economic Development Committee have all endorsed the plan.

Only several years ago, residents rejected proposals to rezone the same general area on South Main Street and land near Cobb Corner to commercial. In the 1980s, they shot down a rezoning plan that would have allowed a mostly commercial development on land that today houses Sharon Woods, a residential development.

Officials attribute the change in heart to a recognition by townspeople that some commercial development is needed to relieve the town's relatively high and growing residential tax burden. A Globe survey this year showed that Sharon's $7,025 average tax bill was the second-highest among 42 area communities.

"The catalyst was the size of the tax differential between us and our neighbors," said Eli Hauser, chairman of the Planning Board and the Economic Development Committee.

Pointing out that just 6 percent of the town's tax base is commercial, Heitin said, "I think the residents know there are just a few opportunities left that would provide some tax relief . . . and if we let them pass, the ever-increasing residential tax burden will continue."

The 57 acres proposed for Sharon Commons is part of 131 contiguous acres that Intoccia and the Congress Group own or otherwise control north of South Main Street, according to Intoccia's attorney, Robert Shelmerdine.

With the rezoning, which requires approval from the state attorney general, the developers could build 450,000 square feet of retail and 46,000 square feet of office space. With a special permit, they could exceed those limits, up to 630,000 square feet overall. They also plan to work with the town to develop up to 168 housing units, some of them affordable, elsewhere on the 131-acre site.

"I think it was a wonderful coincidence of needs, resources, and dreams that all came together," Dean Stratouly, president of the Congress Group, said of the plan, hammered out over weeks of meetings between the developers and town boards. He said he was overwhelmed by the show of support at Town Meeting, a sentiment shared by Intoccia.

"It really was incredible for a developer to have this kind of support behind you . . . . It's just a great feeling," Intoccia said.

The Sharon Commons project is separate from the Pine Woods condominium project in Sharon proposed by Intoccia. The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency withdrew support from the Pine Woods development last week, citing questions about Intoccia's financial statements in that project.

The Town Meeting was not without controversy. A successful move to call the question abruptly ended discussion of the first article on the warrant, the major rezoning measure, before anyone against the plan had a chance to speak, sparking anger among some opponents.

"It was a travesty, a real truncation of the democratic process," said Planning Board member Paul Lauenstein, an opponent who had planned a 10-minute presentation.

Even some supporters were not happy with the way the deliberation went.

"I think we should have allowed some open debate," Heitin said.

But, he added, "at the end of the day, we are in a democracy, and the Town Meeting is the ultimate authority. And if they want to move the question and want to move on to vote on other things, that is their right."

The debate aside, Heitin said he is extremely excited about the opportunity the development presents for Sharon. He said the $2.5 million to $3 million in estimated net annual revenue from the project would help Sharon fund a needed increase in public safety personnel and stabilize its budget without adding to the residential tax burden.

Supporters cite other project benefits, including pledges by the developers to give the town 29 acres of cranberry bogs and a 16-acre potential well site; to preserve, by donation or deed restriction, another 15 to 20 acres; and to make other donations, including $400,000 to help the town conserve and expand its water supply and $250,000 to restore wetlands.

Stratouly said Sharon Commons will offer residents a chance to shop in a village-style atmosphere close to home.

"You can go food shopping, get clothes, get a cup of coffee, feed the ducks in the pond, sit and read the paper, get your taxes done," he said.

Not everyone in town supports the project.

"I don't think it's appropriate to build a mall with 2,000 parking places plus 168 homes" in a groundwater-protection district and an area classified by the state as a priority habitat of rare species, Lauenstein said.

Shelmerdine said design standards "will be more than adequate to protect the environment."

Finance Committee member Laura Nelson said she worries about the impact on the town's semirural character, and that she objects to being rushed to make a decision without enough information.

Hauser said there were nearly four months of active deliberations over the plan. And the decisive vote cast at the packed Town Meeting, he said, "was a pretty strong statement that people felt they had the information needed to make a positive decision."

John Laidler can be reached at laidler@globe.com.