Options aired for site

The public meeting, at 7 p.m. in the Watson Building at 85 Quincy Ave., will review various development scenarios put together by the Community Design Resource Center of Boston, a nonprofit working for free.

The center proposes three options for the 1.6-acre property, located along the Monatiquot River. Each will include a public riverwalk and open green space, with some development, said David Gamble, president of the design center. The options include an active adult community, a conference/wellness center, and artist lofts.

More detailed plans about each proposal will be unveiled at the meeting, Gamble said.

The design center was brought in to help lead a collaborative effort between the town and residents to come up with a preliminary plan. The center’s involvement is a change in how many communities approach development because the collaborative effort is aimed at helping to forge a consensus. In many communities, the developer comes up with an idea for a parcel, and it is then presented to residents. Bitter conflict can result if residents oppose the plan.

Here, Braintree officials hope to build a consensus with neighbors over the next few months. Whoever eventually develops the property will be able to use their ideas as a blueprint, knowing that residents and the town have already approved the general idea.

The Allen Street site was left vacant when the municipal light company moved to a new location more than a decade ago. Gamble said he hopes the plans for the property will illustrate how a development can help support and pay for open space in town.

The design center has a unique nonprofit purpose, which is to provide preliminary planning and design work for cash-strapped nonprofits and public organizations.

“They should all be commended,’’ said David Oliva, chairman of the East Braintree Civic Association, speaking about the design center and town officials.

The process has worked well, he said. Two other meetings have been held.

Mayor Joseph C. Sullivan called the property a “signature site,’’ close to Weymouth Landing, which is also the site of a collaborative revitalization between Braintree and Weymouth, and the MBTA commuter rail’s Weymouth Landing-East Braintree stop on the Greenbush line.

Sullivan said he hopes a plan for the electric plant property, which has been used for more than a century and has several old buildings on it, can be completed by the end of the summer. What happens next depends on what neighbors agree on, he said. He lauded the work done by the design center.

“The level of discussion we’re having is very positive and will allow us to get a smart use of the property,’’ he said. “I myself have learned from this experience.’’

Oliva said residents have made it clear in previous meetings that they are not interested in a big housing development, although some housing for seniors could be acceptable. “But condos or a five-story building, we would not accept that,’’ he added.

People are also interested in having access to the waterfront, possibly through a promenade.

“We’re fortunate we have this waterfront,’’ said Dorothy-Veronica White, a member of the civic association.

She agreed the neighborhood does not want more condominiums. “We don’t want more congestion.’’

Matt Carroll can be reached at mcarroll@globe.com.