Efforts to develop a professional soccer stadium in Everett, Massachusetts, have resumed and will be discussed at a public hearing Tuesday, with both legislative bodies previously supporting language that would prompt major zoning changes.
The latest effort to encourage construction of the future home of Robert Craft's New England Revolution in Greater Boston was filed by Sen. Sal DiDomenico in December.
His bill would remove a 43-acre parcel of land located in parts of Boston and Everett from “designated port area” status “for the purpose of converting the parcel into a professional soccer stadium and waterfront park.” Ta. The designation is intended to “promote and protect water-dependent industrial uses,” according to the Coastal Zone Management Authority.
The lot along the Mystic River that Everett officials and the Kraft Group had eyed as a potential new home for the Revolution, which plays at Foxboro's Gillette Stadium, is now occupied by a decommissioned power plant. Encore is located across from Boston Harbor.
If passed and signed into law, DiDomenico's bill would be a victory in a multi-year permitting effort, as the project would require state environmental and transportation reviews as well as local zoning approvals. Become.
In written testimony shared ahead of the hearing, the Conservation Law Foundation opposed DiDomenico's bill, calling “spot zoning,” or carving out zoning rules for specific parcels of land or developers, “a bad plan.” ”.
Senior attorney Maggie Sullivan said CLF is not opposed to Everett's desire to build a football stadium, but it would remove one of the state's 10 active ports with deep water access. He warned that this could undermine the state's clean energy goals. Game-day traffic congestion can also worsen air pollution in Somerville, Everett and Boston, she said.
Sullivan said Congress should be “cautious about shrinking port footprints and undermining clean energy goals, and ensuring that any stadium is physically accessible to fans and close to the neighborhood.” We need to make sure that this is a stadium that the community can accept without regret.”
In mid-July 2022, language promoting the construction of Everett Stadium won House approval for economic development, but Senate negotiators did not agree to it as part of a compromise.
And in 2023, the Senate included similar language in a supplemental spending bill to pave the way for stadium construction. But the provision was not included in the conference committee's report after closed-door negotiations between the House and Senate, and revelations surrounding another deal may have derailed any chance of a deal.
DiDomenico is listed as a “third-party supervisor” in a November memorandum of understanding between Everett and NRS, LLC. NRS, LLC is a Delaware corporation with its “principal place of business at One Patriot Place, Foxboro, Massachusetts.”
The signed document calls for a “world-class stadium” with approximately 25,000 seats at 173 Alford Street and an “attractive public park” on the waterfront. There will be only 75 parking spaces on site, and NRS will be looking to improve pedestrian infrastructure to encourage the use of public transport.
The bill was the only topic of discussion at the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies hearing scheduled for 2 p.m.