NEWBURYPORT — City officials huddled with legal counsel on post-Patriots Monday to ensure that they don't have to replay the public hearings associated with a proposal to rezone part of Storey Avenue.
Tropic Star LLC, a New Hampshire developer, has requested rezoning a small parcel near the intersection of Storey Avenue and Low Street to permit development of a CVS pharmacy and a bank branch.
Members of the city's Planning and Development Committee have said that the City Council must act on its recommendation to rezone the land by Sunday.
City Councilor Barry Connell, who is chairman of the Planning and Development Committee, has said that if no action were taken by Sunday, the measure would have to be reintroduced at the Planning Board level and public hearings started anew.
But city officials yesterday said that their legal counsel, Kopelman and Paige of Boston, has determined that the deadline for council action is 90 days from the closing of public hearings, which occurred Jan. 25.
Mayor Donna Holaday yesterday said that according to their interpretation of the law, city lawyers stated there is no need for a special council meeting this week to act on Storey Avenue.
Emily Wentworth, a planning and zoning administrator for the city, confirmed that city officials still have time to consider the issue. She said the new deadline is April 24.
"This can go forward until the end of April," Wentworth said. "The hearings won't have to be repeated if action is taken."
The Feb. 12 date that was bandied about at municipal meetings and hearings evidently came from the belief that the city had 90 days after the rezoning measure was introduced at the Planning Board level — not 90 days from the conclusion of public hearings at the City Council level.
Meanwhile, one councilor who opposes the rezoning is asking Tropic Star to withdraw its application until more study can take place.
In his periodic newsletter to constituents sent yesterday, Robert Cronin said, "This is the time to slow down, listen to our residents' voices and let our commissions work out a solution that is best for Newburyport.
"I have contacted (state) Sen. (Steven) Baddour's office requesting that Storey Avenue be given priority in order to reduce congestion and increase traffic safety.
"I have urged the proponents to temporarily withdraw the zoning change (without prejudice) so traffic concerns can be properly addressed. So far, that seems unlikely, but in my opinion still a reasonable option."
Cronin added that because Seaport Village, another developer, appears to be re-proposing a 185-unit housing complex off Low Street in the area of Storey Avenue, more study needs to be done.
The Planning and Development Committee recently gave the Storey Avenue rezoning proposal a favorable recommendation, but Connell declined to bring the measure to a vote at the council's Jan. 30 meeting.
Connell said he wanted to wait until Councilor Allison Heartquist was present so he would have the potential to secure the eight votes necessary to pass the rezoning. She was absent from last week's meeting. Passage of the rezoning proposal requires a super-majority vote of eight councilors.
Councilors Brian Derrivan, Greg Earls, Tom Jones, Katy O'Connor Ives, Connell and Heartquist currently appear to support the rezoning.
Councilors Ed Cameron, Robert Cronin and Tom O'Brien have said they will vote against it.
Councilor Ari Herzog appears undecided.
A wild card is first-term Councilor Dick Sullivan Jr. He says he is recusing himself because the family real estate business has had professional dealings with the Woodman family, which owns land in the area of the proposed rezoning.
But Sullivan recently said he approached the state ethics board about his position and was told that he didn't have an actual conflict of interest, but "an appearance of a conflict of interest," which may provide him with some leeway in the matter.
While Sullivan thus far has not had the opportunity to vote, his decision could emerge as the swing ballot if Herzog votes in favor.
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