Plan for former Quincy dealership back to the drawing board

Sean Philip Cotter The Patriot Ledger Cotter_Ledger

QUINCY – The developer proposing a strip mall near the Fore River Bridge will return to the drawing board again to work out final changes to its plan.
Under the proposal, the 18,000-square-foot former Tom O’Brien dealership building at 479 Washington St. would be renovated and split up into four or five storefronts.

The plan, by developer FX/Harborlight, originally came before the public in July. At a planning board meeting two months ago, board members questioned some of the aesthetics of the proposal, including the landscaping and the bright red coloring on several parts of the building, particularly its large sign.

The developers toned down the red by Wednesday night’s meeting and increased the extent and complexity of the landscaping around parts of the property.

“We see this as a gateway to Quincy from the south and to the south,” said Patrick Cleary of FX/Harborlight.

Board members and Ward 2 City Councilor Brad Croall, who represents the area, said they appreciated the changes.

“This is headed in the right direction,” Croall said.

The largest tenant would be ConvenientMD Urgent Care, a New Hampshire-based small chain that has emergency room doctors on staff. The portion of the building containing ConvenientMD was designed to have a sign that rises 24 feet above the ground and has the company’s relatively long name on it.

The height and amount of writing on the sign were at issue at the previous planning board meeting, and the developer did not change that significantly before Wednesday night.

Lawyer Robert Harnais, representing the developer, asked the board to allow the developer another month to work on further changes. The board members agreed.

“This is a once-in-a-generation chance to get this intersection looking the way it should,” said Vice Chairman Coleman Barry.

Two neighbors told the planning board they generally support the project and are happy to see the vacant dealership becoming less of an eyesore. But they are worried about traffic and how the development would affect the residential area.

Neighbor Steve Perdios said the size of the sign seems excessive.

“(Twenty-four feet) seems crazy high to me,” he said.

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