While Charlestown residents seem to be driving the talk on what a new Sullivan Square should look like, at least one Everett Planning Board member wants his Board to have more control of that process to ensure Everett doesn’t come out on the losing end of those plan again.
Member Lou Pizzano Jr. said he would like the Everett Planning Board to leverage its power of review to have a greater say over the Sullivan Square process – and he called on Wynn to make sure Everett’s concerns are heard.
“I would like to make sure this Board maintains control of all the traffic reviews,” he said during a meeting Monday night. “I’m talking about lower Broadway, Sweetser Circle, and the major one, Sullivan Square. Before you came on board, the Sullivan Square project was well underway. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense as far as Everett residents were concerned. It was a surface artery with three sets of lights. We like to have our little underpass to go down and then come up unabated on Rutherford Avenue to Boston. As any Everett resident would say, that’s really what we’d like to see happen. I know it’s in Boston’s hands…but I think it should come before us. It’s not to be ignored because it’s Boston.”
The comments by Pizzano came during Monday’s Planning Board meeting when Wynn Everett was engaging in its first Site Plan Review presentation. The comments were unique in that the traffic at Sullivan Square has largely been seen as a Charlestown issue, and has been driven by Charlestown residents and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh.
Rarely has Everett’s needs for transportation into Boston been considered.
Pizzano said Boston’s plans for Sullivan Square have historically left Everett out of the discussion despite the fact that it’s a major artery into and out of the City. He said the last plan – which has now been shelved – really hindered Everett.
“Now you’re invested, you’ve put your money on the table down there, and as the governing board I think we should have a say over what happens there,” he continued. “I want you to know how important it is to us that we don’t end up getting the short end of the stick.”
Wynn officials said that a working group on Sullivan Square has been convened by state Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack. They said there has been one meeting, and Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria was present and vocal about Sullivan Square.
The Everett Planning Board does have some jurisdiction over all traffic that would come to the site, including traffic passing through other adjacent locales such as Sullivan Square.