[CPEO-MEF] Bright spot in dark times

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Massachusetts
Bright spot in dark times
By Jeanne M. Rideout / jrideout@cnc.com
Wednesday, April 2, 2003

NAS developer seeks community voice on new plan

A new day is dawning on a dark fiscal horizon.

A new plan is unfolding at the old South Weymouth Naval Air Station.

And redevelopment officials are asking the community to tell them how to
shape this plan.

Marshfield native David S. Hall, vice president for base master
developer Lennar Partners, stressed the potential for new revenue for
Weymouth and the South Shore area and the importance of input from
residents at last Thursday's CNC editorial board meeting at Mariner
Newspapers.

"This is a bright opportunity to let revenue flow. These are bad fiscal
times for state and local government," Hall said.

Hall is hoping for an ever-increasing turnout at a series of public
meeting on base redevelopment hosted by Lennar and the South Shore
Tri-Town Development Corporation, the local authority overseeing the
former air station. The meeting set for 7 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, April
9, at the base conference center (the former bowling alley), will
include architects presenting their visions.

Redevelopment of the base must be guided by existing economic realities,
Hall said. The existing reuse plan for the base, approved in 1998 by
town meetings in Weymouth, Rockland, and Abington, does not work in
2003. With the economy cooling and the bottom falling out of the
business office market, the 200 million square feet zoned for retail -
designed to accommodate a mega shopping mall - must be rezoned for
today's economy. The revised plan will eventually create employment and
a new tax revenue stream for the three towns.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.townonline.com/weymouth/news/local_regional/wey_newwnjeannasedboard04022003.htm

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