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Paul Etkind, the Temple’s former president, said at the hearing March 26 that the four-acre parcel on Route 138 near Mattapan, which the Temple can no longer afford to maintain, will soon be sold off “one way or another.”
If not to construct a drive-through pharmacy and a commercial-use building, as Temple officials are proposing, residential development may be the only other option.
“It would be the only other economically viable alternative,” said Ned Corcoran, an attorney representing the Temple, at a public hearing on the re-zoning proposal last week.
Under that scenario, the congregation would lose its home in Milton after over 60 years, Etkind said.
“We will sell this property,” he told the crowd at the hearing, many of whom spoke in opposition to the current proposal, which would involve a drive-through pharmacy.
If the overlay zoning for commercial use, which requires Town Meeting approval, is denied, “it may very well end up vacant until such time as we can sell it,” Etkind said.
Corcoran said a residential development – which could look something like Quincy’s Lincoln Heights Apartments, with up to 80 units in four buildings – is the only other plan that would be feasible on the property, located at 180 Blue Hill Ave. He said Chapter 40B affordable housing would be a possibility for that development.
Etkind said there might not be a market right away for a residential development. He added that Police Chief Richard Wells Jr. is worried about the spot becoming a vacant building.
“There is no status-quo alternative. Something has to happen with this property,” Corcoran said.
Under the commercial-development scenario, which is being presented as a citizens’ petition to Town Meeting, the Temple would move into a smaller structure on the land. The larger portion of the parcel would be sold for the construction of two commercial buildings, one of which would be a CVS or Walgreens pharmacy.
The move would assure that the dwindling congregation has a permanent home for the future, officials have said.
The zoning requires authorization by a two-thirds majority vote by Annual Town Meeting, which opens May 4. Many residents, especially those who live in the vicinity of the Temple, have been opposed to the commercial development.
Catherine King, who lives on Concord Avenue, said she is against it because “it’s being presented as non-negotiable.”
Selectman Marion McEtrrick, who lives near the Temple on Crown Street, said neighbors have been telling her the same thing.
“That’s, I think, what’s causing so much dismay,” she said. “There are all kinds of options that haven’t been discussed, and they can’t be because of the way this has been presented, as a one-option scenario.”
Others possibilities – such as the construction of a restaurant, food market or academic facility – were discussed since the time Temple officials began reviewing their finances in the summer of 2005, Etkind said. But those plans were scrapped because they were not feasible for the site or developers weren’t interested, he said.
He said the proposal for two commercial buildings, which the congregation nearly unanimously supports, requires “less demand on the town services and more oversight from the town.”
However, residents have been concerned that the development would reduce their home values.
“There’s a small market for homes that sit next to a strip mall,” Lisa Murphy, of Mulberry Road, said. “We don’t need a pharmacy. There are plenty of them nearby.”
Tammy Murphy, of Concord Avenue, called a presentation Corcoran gave showing home prices in East Milton going up since the construction of Milton Market Place – which he deemed a comparative development – “insulting.”
“We all know there has been a housing boom since [Milton Market Place was constructed in the early 1980s],” she said. “Home prices are going up.”
But Lori Bilewicz, a resident of Aberdeen Road, said the town should be more open-minded about commercial development. “We’re not talking about a full-blown ‘knock-down-the-neighborhood and put up a Target here,’” she said. “This sounds like reasonable development to me.”
“We’re not going to put anything there we’re not going to want to live with,” said Ann Campbell, who directs the Campbell School on the Temple property.
Anne Batcheller, of Dexter Street, said she also supports the plan because of the additional revenue it will bring the town.
“I think the town would really relish that extra $170,000 right now,” she said, referring to an estimate Corcoran said the assessors’ office made of annual revenue from the development.
Temple member Murray Reiser urged residents to come together to keep the congregation in Milton.
“Temple Shalom is part of my way of life,” he said.