Taunton scraps Leonard School condo plan in face of intense opposition. What's next?
TAUNTON — The city has earmarked the land behind the closed Leonard School as open space in the face of fierce neighborhood opposition to a proposal to put cottage-style condos there.
City councilors agreed to designate the land behind the school as “open space” on Tuesday, Aug. 8.
Eldridge Street resident Jennifer Hoye said she is "incredibly happy” about the council’s decision, made at the request of the city’s Office of Economic and Community Development.
“I hope it will remain open space,” she said on Aug. 10.
Some residents voiced concerns that the condos would impact their neighborhood with excess motor vehicle traffic, backyard flooding and a loss of privacy caused by woodlands removal to accommodate development.
Chester Avenue resident Andrea Turkalo said she believes OECD decided to have the land behind Leonard School be designated open space in response to neighborhood concerns.
“We can’t develop every city-owned property because we should be concerned about global warming,” she said following a City Council Public Property Meeting on Aug. 8. “Having woodland trees are important for the environment.”
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Taunton OECD seeks ‘other options’ for Leonard School property use
OECD Project Manager Jim Howland previously said the cottage complexes were "a concept put forth as one method for determining the reuse and redevelopment of surplus city property.”
“It is zoned for residential use, and we are looking for other options,” he said during a City Council Public Property Committee meeting on Aug. 8. We have to determine what needs to happen to the school building as to whether it can be used or taken down. A lot more needs to happen before that could be determined.”
Councilor Chris Coute said the neighborhood is in a residential zone that could allow a small single-family complex to be built on the school property itself
Anything else would need a special permit from the City Council, he said during the Aug. 8 Public Property Committee meeting.
Councilor Lawrence Quintal said he believes neighborhood residents would only support a small-family complex if the undeveloped property behind the school is designated open space.
“I think the school will be taken down in the future,” he said.
Councilor Estele Borges urged the committee to approve designating the land behind Leonard School as open space to prevent large-scale developments from occurring.
“I’m looking at this to protect the neighborhood,” she said.
Committee members unanimously agreed to designate the land behind Leonard School as open space, and they forwarded their recommendation to the full Council, which approved it.
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Taunton councilors approve Leonard School pathway connection
The City Council and Public Property Committee approved an OECD request for an easement to create a 100-foot length pathway to connect Leonard School’s property to a parking lot near the open space parcel.
Howland said a pathway is needed to connect a potential residential development on the school property to the parking lot.
“With just about anything that would be there, especially if it’s residential, there is going to be a need for parking,” he said.
Howland said the OECD is concerned about “a gap between where the Leonard School physically sits and where the parking lot visibly sits.”
"We would like to create an easement to get across,” he said.
Borges said she supports having the land behind Leonard School designated as open space but opposes an easement provision until it’s clear what type of development is being sought by a proponent.
“If I knew a development would be built there that benefits the neighborhood, I would say yes to the easement,” she said on Aug. 11.
Borges asked the committee to make separate decisions on whether to approve designating the land behind Leonard School as open space and an easement to link both sites.
Committee members and the City Council unanimously agreed to approve designating the land behind Leonard School as open space in a single decision.
The committee and Council, except for Borges, then made a separate decision to approve OECD’s request for a pathway easement.
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This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Taunton City Council designates land behind Leonard School open space
