Shaping the future of Watertown street

A Watertown planning and design firm has lots of ideas on how officials can manage future development along Pleasant Street, one of the town's major corridors, but not all of those ideas are being well-received.

Sasaki Associates recently unveiled its analysis and draft plan for Pleasant Street, a once-busy industrial strip along the Charles River that is now home to a large number of potentially valuable parcels with condemned buildings, parking lots, and warehouses.

The plan comes just as the town prepares to collect $8.5 million in long-awaited federal money to pay for a massive reconstruction of Pleasant Street from Watertown Square to the Waltham city line.

Gregory Watson, Watertown's director of planning and community development, called the consultant's plan a framework for officials to refer to when deciding how best to shape what property owners along Pleasant Street will be allowed to do should they sell their land or convert it to residential or commercial use.

Among the suggested changes are: create a new mixed-use district, where offices, stores, and homes could be built together with minimal zoning red tape; require new buildings be at least two stories and up to a maximum of seven stories if owners meet certain criteria; simplify the review process so the Planning Board deals with special permits and site reviews only, while the Zoning Board of Appeals would focus on variances and nonconforming uses; and offer zoning incentives to property owners to open up public access to the Charles River from Pleasant Street.

Planning and zoning officials will meet over the next several weeks with the Town Council's subcommittee on economic development to discuss which of Sasaki's zoning changes are best to pursue.

By fall's end, Watson expects recommendations for changes to the town's zoning rules to be brought before the council for a public hearing and vote.

The draft plan presentation on Sept. 20 came shortly after the end of a six-month building ban along Pleasant Street.

Members of the economic subcommittee said that, while they recognize Pleasant Street development needs to be reined in, they weren't sure creating a mixed-use district is a good idea. "It feels like spot zoning to me, but with different semantics," said Council president Clyde L. Younger.

Dan Driscoll, a senior planner for the state Department of Conservation and Recreation who lives in Watertown, said he has spent years negotiating land access along the Charles River and feels the idea of offering incentives to property owners in exchange for creating parks or other public spaces by the river is unnecessary and may be underestimating the willingness of land owners to give back to the town.

How changes will affect traffic is a huge worry to residents. Some felt the plan would bring more cars to that end of town by encouraging development where little exists.

But Watson said the town isn't trying to increase traffic, only to manage what property owners can do with their land, and perhaps derive some tax benefit if lots become developed. "Traffic is going to happen no matter what," he said. "These sites are not going to sit vacant."