Blaney Street Pier

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Photographs of Presentation Boards

 

Number	Issue	Sponsor	Description	Where	When	Time	Notes	Subnotes
4B	Salem Pier	Salem Con Com (Conservation Commission)	Discussion of the Goldeneye Corporation's Application for change in the configuration of the proposed ferry and coastal vessel pier	One Salem Green, 2nd Floor	Thursday, February 3, 2000	7:00 p.m.	Public hearing continued
4B	Salem Pier	Salem Con Com (Conservation Commission)	Discussion of the Goldeneye Corporation's Application for change in the configuration of the proposed ferry and coastal vessel pier	One Salem Green, 2nd Floor	Thursday, January 14, 2000	7:00 p.m.		The firm previously had an order of conditions from the ConCom, but new configurations made necessary for conformance to the city's wishes made a new application necessary. I the meantime, Goldeneye is under a "stay" order in court, while the city and the firm negotiates the zoning and use issues. Public hearing continued until February 3, 2000.
11	Salem Pier at Blaney Street	Mayor Stanley J. Usovicz, Jr.	Public Discussions of the Proposed Goldeneye Pier Plan	City Council Chambers	Wednesday, January 5, 2000	6:30 p.m.	Next meeting is next week. Location and date not known. About 65 people attended this meeting, conducted by the City Solicitor, John Keenan. Goldeneye was represented by Bob Blair and Bo Salem. The Chapter 91 license that was issued by the state has been appealed by the city as it was not a “temporary enough” structure. A revised plan was revealed, smaller in size. Three boats will be able to dock at once. Intent is to use the pier for “transportation”; water taxis, ferries, transients, fishing boats. No gambling boats will be allowed. Parking and noise, and party boat issues were discussed.	The mayor has invited Goldeneye Corporation to present the status of their plans for the pier at Blaney Street. Next meeting is next week. Location and date not known. About 65 people attended this meeting, conducted by the City Solicitor, John Keenan. Goldeneye was represented by Bob Blair and Bo Salem. The Chapter 91 license that was issued by the state has been appealed by the city as it was not a “temporary enough” structure. A revised plan was revealed, smaller in size. Three boats will be able to dock at once. Intent is to use the pier for “transportation”; water taxis, ferries, transients, fishing boats. No gambling boats will be allowed. Parking and noise, and party boat issues were discussed.
4A	Salem Pier	Salem ZBA (Zoning Board of Appeals)	Discussion of the Goldeneye Corporation's Application for a Variance to permit certain uses in the existing Industrial Zone next to the Power Plant, at the Pier they already own and use for the Ferry Service	One Salem Green, 2nd Floor	Wednesday, November 17, 1999	6:30 p.m.	Additional discussion. Reports indicate that the ZBA refused to allow the withdrawal of the application.	The ZBA voted unanimously to rescind the Building Inspector's previous certification to the state that the activities described in the owner’s Chapter 91 License were in compliance with the city’s zoning regulations.
4	Salem Pier	Salem ZBA (Zoning Board of Appeals)	Discussion of the Goldeneye Corporation's Application for a Variance to permit certain uses in the existing Industrial Zone next to the Power Plant, at the Pier they already own and use for the Ferry Service	One Salem Green, 2nd Floor	Wednesday, October 20, 1999	6:30 p.m.	According to the proponent, there are zoning and other issues to work out at the state and local level, before proceeding. (NB: This evidently has been canceled. We understand the Building Inspector has made a ruling which permitted filing the Chapter 91)
3	Salem Pier	Salem ZBA (Zoning Board of Appeals)	Discussion of the Goldeneye Corporation's Application for a Variance to permit certain uses in the existing Industrial Zone next to the Power Plant, at the Pier they already own and use for the Ferry Service	One Salem Green, 2nd Floor	Wednesday, September 15, 1999	6:30 p.m.	Since Goldeneye owns the land where the State wants to build a pier under the Salem Harbor and Dredging Salem Harbor Plans, these issues may all tie together
1A	Salem Pier	Salem ZBA (Zoning Board of Appeals)	Site visit by ZBA in connection with September 15, 1999 ZBA Hearing (See Item 3 below)	Blaney Street/Pier Area	Wednesday, September 1, 1999	6:00 p.m.

A meeting with the Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled for 6:30 pm, Wednesday, November 17, 1999	The ZBA voted unanimously to rescind the Building Inspector's previous decision to allow the developer to proceed with the Chapter 91 License.
This proposal was outlined at the August 18, 1999 meeting of the Salem ZBA (Zoning Board of Appeals).	The developer indicated that in order to obtain the Chapter 91 license to operate the ferry terminal, he needed a variance from the ZBA to change the use from Industrial to include Water Dependent Uses. The text of their request can be seen below.
	A Site Visit by the Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled for 6:00 pm, Wednesday, September 1, 1999.
	A Public Hearing (continued) by the Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled for 6:30 pm, Wednesday, September 15, 1999. This has been continued, at the developer's request, to Wednesday, October 20, 1999, at 6:30pm (NB: This evidently has been canceled. We understand the Building Inspector has made a ruling which permitted filing the Chapter 91). However, we also understand that there are additional issues between the developer, the city , and the ZBA.

Request of applicant

The relief asked for is detailed on Schedule A of petition of Goldeneye Corporation July 27, 1999 as follows:

The Petitioner, Goldeneye Corp., owner of the property known as 4 Blaney Street, and commonly referred to as the Salem Ferry Landing, seeks the appropriate zoning relief to allow the continuation and future use of the property for marine related and water -dependent uses, including the construction and installation of a pier, walkway, barge, gangways, and terminal building and parking area for 200+/- cars, as shown on the plans submitted herewith.

The property is located in the Industrial ("I") Zone.

The Salem Zoning Ordinance does not contemplate marine related uses other than a "marina", which is a Special Permit use in certain districts. All other types of commercial water-related uses are overlooked. Therefore, since the Ordinance is silent as to the existing and proposed use, which is now operating into its second year at the property, the Petitioner respectfully requests a Special Permit/Variance to allow marine related and water dependent uses at the property.

 

Preliminary Commentary

It is important to note that the Blaney Street Pier is in a Designated Port Area. This a special area designated by the Commonwealth for industrial and other activities requiring access to the water. See Harbor Plan for more information. Thus any variance or special permit related to this property is extremely important to Salem's future. Note also that the request is for "marine related and water dependent uses". This is a very broad definition which mirrors the language which describes uses allowed in a Designated Port Area. This is disturbing.

At an initial reading, it appears that the applicant may be asking the ZBA to create a new use not allowed by the Zoning Code. This is another bad precedent of using variances and special permits (See Osco Drug) to allow uses not allowed by the Zoning Ordinance. The City says that it is working on proposing a Waterfront Overlay District. Approval of such a District would need to go through the appropriate channels, including public hearings and City Council approvals. This is a much more appropriate way for this situation to be dealt with than the granting of the variance requested.

Developer: Goldeneye Corporation, Bob Blair
Attorney: Joe Correnti, Serafini, Serafini & Darling

	Existing Blaney Street Pier from water

 

 

 

 

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