Allan Herschlag lives in Concord.

The Concord Monitor just reported on a plan for the redevelopment of the Steeplegate Mall property that will go before the Planning Board for comments at their October meeting.

If the title to this My Turn isn’t clear, let me reiterate. It is hideous. It is exactly what our city planners and consultants have been working on for over five years to avoid. A parking lot with buildings in the middle.

Even if we all agree that there is a tremendous need for more housing, more housing doesn’t (or shouldn’t) occur in a vacuum. Traffic, safety services, and recreation will all need to be enhanced. When does density become overcrowding? When does Concord lose its soul?

Unfortunately, our planning department after more than five years of trying has been unable to get their act together to come up with a planning document that would prevent this sort of crap.

The August 9, 2022, phase 2 public presentation for the proposed zoning (a consultant for phases 1 & 2 was hired by the city in early 2018 with the expectation both phases would be completed in two years) shows a concept for the redevelopment of the mall property. The concept for the mall is towards the end of the presentation.

While I am not a huge fan of Tuscan Village in Salem (too contrived) and I have concerns about the concept the city is proposing, it is a step in the right direction. And as I mentioned earlier there will need to be planning for additional traffic, safety services, access to recreation and a new exit off of 393, for starters.

But the idea of a comprehensive development plan (CDP) put forward by the city, for important properties in our city, in my opinion is the direction the city should be moving towards. It has at least a couple of advantages over our current zoning. Site specific zoning allows the city to control how a parcel is developed (or redeveloped) without having to take ownership of the property. And if a developer comes back to the city with a better plan the site’s zoning can be amended.

When looking at recent development in the city the best project to come forward is a building housing two steam boilers built by the state across from the police station. How is it possible that the state erects a utility building that out designs nearly all of the construction that has recently occurred? Why do we have a consultant from Texas who appears not to understand how to apply form based zoning codes that meet our community’s goals? That respects the character and history of our city. Not another cookie cutter plan that has us looking like Anytown, USA.

Come on, we can do better and we should.

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