Urban Affairs Committee recommends 99-unit 57 Main Street project on 3-2 vote

MARLBOROUGH -- March 23, 2023, Marlborough Urban Affairs splits 3-2 to recommend 99-unit 57 Main Street downtown project. The committee advanced JW Capital Partners' mixed-use site plan after a nearly two-hour debate focused on a 60-space parking shortfall the developer will cover with a $520,000 in-lieu payment. Chair Kathleen Robey and Councilor Sean Navin voted to deny, citing inadequate downtown transit and the project's 31 percent ratio of provided-to-required parking; councilors Laura Wagner, David Doucette and Donald Landers voted to approve, with Wagner calling it "irresponsible to just approve a project and hope the parking thing works out" before voting yes on grounds the application complies with by-right zoning. Robert Michaud of MDM Transportation Consultants reported roughly 80 percent overnight vacancy across surveyed municipal lots. Procopio's Chris D'Andrea said the unit count cannot be reduced without making the project financially infeasible. The full council takes it up April 10.