Despite opposition, hospital redevelopment plans on track

Robert Barboza Correspondent

Published Mar 23, 2021 

LAKEVILLE — With plan approval votes on plans for the proposed redevelopment of the Lakeville Hospital campus as a warehouse or distribution center coming from the Board of Health and Conservation Commission this week, the project is now only one big approval vote away from completing the local permitting process.

Remaining for developer Rhino Capital LLC now is the Planning Board’s formal approval of a special permit for the project under Development Opportunities District zoning guidelines, along with the expected long list of required conditions for construction and operations.

The corporation is proposing to tear down all seven existing buildings in the hospital complex and build a 402,500 square foot one-story building to be leased to one or two tenants. According to submitted plans, the new building would be sited just over 400 feet from Main Street, and be outfitted with 128 loading docks for tractor trailer truck deliveries and shipments.

The Board of Health unanimously approved septic system plans for the redevelopment project at its March 17 meeting, Chairman Chris Spratt told the town’s 43D Review Committee the following night. There were “no major concerns” about the plans, he said, noting they were “pretty straightforward... not asking for anything special.”

The Health Board did suggest that one condition on the special permit be a bond that would cover town equipment and manpower expenses for noise monitoring “down the road, when we have to deal with noise complaint issues... if it becomes an ongoing complaint,” Spratt said.

Potential noise impacts from 24/7 trucking operations at the site have been a major concern of residents of neighborhoods surrounding the abandoned hospital property since the proposed use was first disclosed.

Noise was among the detrimental effects on the neighborhood cited in a recent letter to the Planning Board from the 300-plus members of the Lakeville Residents for Responsible Growth, which formally asked the board to deny Rhino Capital the special permit needed for the project to go forward.

Group spokesman John Jenkins told members of the Planning Board in a virtual meeting that the proposed plans did not meet the basic criteria of the Development Opportunities District (DOD) zoning the town adopted in 2012, which are predicated upon projects not having “a detrimental effect” on surrounding residential properties.

The proposed seven-day-a-week trucking and warehouse operation “clearly creates a negative effect on the neighborhood” in violation of that basic requirement of the DOD zoning bylaw, Jenkins argued.

The resident group asked for a non-binding town-wide referendum vote on the plans, expressing its willingness to pay the costs of the special election for that referendum vote if necessary. The recommendation was passed on to selectmen for consideration.

At the March 18 continuation of the public hearing on plans, Conservation Commission Chair Bob Bouchard recorded a similar unanimous vote on the final order of conditions to be attached to the approved plans for site work and protection of wetlands resources from his board.

After making a few minute last-minute adjustments to the multi-page order of conditions for the redevelopment plans, the commission voted 5-0 to approve the finalized order.

At that point, Planning Board Chair Mark Knox declared the 43D Review Committee’s public hearing portion of the meeting closed, and said discussions would continue as a Planning Board “work session” without public comment from that point on.

He noted that the board had recently received 65 letters “either in support or opposition” to the special permit request since their last meeting two weeks ago.

Tyler Murphy, representative of the Boston-based investment and management firm which is buying the site, was asked for the company’s response to issues raised at the last public hearing. He started with public concerns about increased truck and pedestrian traffic along Route 105, especially foot traffic from the apartment complex on Commercial Drive to the new MBTA station just over the Middleborough town line.

Murphy said the traffic study for the T station has generated considerable plans for road improvements, new traffic signals, crosswalks and other improvements to the Route 105 corridor, from the Route 28 intersection to the Route 79 intersection.

The I-495 interchange will be redesigned to create a four-way intersection with new traffic signals, and the pedestrian crossings between Commercial Drive and the new T station will be upgraded to “protected” crossings with lights, he indicated. The MBTA is planning regular shuttle bus runs from the Lakeville apartments to the train station, he also noted.

The project will also include re-adjustment of the traffic signals at the Route 105 and Route 79 intersection just south of the I-495 interchange. Already in the works are state plans to install a traffic signal and new road marking at the intersection of Bridge Street and Main Street; a House bill has earmarked $2.5 million for the new traffic signals and improvements there in this fiscal year.

Murphy’s review list of mutually agreed “findings” between developer and permitting agency began with an apt summary of the special permit application – the company believes the proposed commercial use “is not noxious, harmful, or hazardous, and is socially and economically desirable” to the community, and will remove a long-blighted property from public view.

The project will clearly improve “existing condition, which is both noxious and harmful,” Murphy told town officials. In exchange for a small increase in peak hour traffic, and truck traffic at other times, the town can have the site cleaned up and attractively developed, and bolster its commercial tax base, he suggested.

“The advantages of the proposed outweigh any detrimental effects” of the redevelopment plans, Murphy added. Other redevelopment proposals may not be as beneficial to the community, he offered.

Social media commentary and petition opposition to permit approval from the Lakeville Residents for Responsible Growth take a slightly contrary view of the project, suggesting noise, traffic, and safety concerns about the proposed 24-hour commercial operation outweigh the economic benefits of that redevelopment plan.

Now, neighboring Middleborough is trying to address potential traffic issues reaching over the town line, with the Middleborough Planning Board asking to be included in a traffic routing agreement between the developer and the two towns, limiting tractor trailers to direct routes to and from I-495, and banning truck use of Route 105 to reach Route 44, member Jack Healey told his Lakeville counterparts.

“There’s no way to force an applicant to enter into an agreement with another town,” Lakeville Town Counsel advised Knox. The permit could condition “primary routes” for tractor trailers, and require negotiations on voluntary traffic agreements with eventual tenants, she suggested.

Murphy told officials of both towns that the company was certainly willing to discuss truck routes with town representatives.

At the end of the March 18 session, the Planning Board continued the public hearing on the special permit application to its April 1 meeting.