North River Canal Corridor Plan Implementation4.1North River Canal Corridor
Implementation
4.2 North River Canal Corridor
Keeping the momentum going…
The efforts of this planning study should not be
considered the end of the journey towards get-
ting this plan implemented. This plan should
be used to further advance peoples understand-
ing of the shared vision and the future potential
of what the North River Canal Corridor can
become. Many of the pieces of the plan will
require additional consideration as development
proposals are put forth and as various members
of the community establish the means by which
projects should be reviewed and partnerships
should be built. The following section outlines
some of the next steps that should be considered
to ensure that this plan keeps the momentum
going.
Future of the Working Group
The Working Group played a major role in not
only the creation of the issues and opportunities
and vision statement, but also the creation of the
Master Plan itself.
As parts of this plan move forward the consult-
nant recommends that the Working Group
works with the City to understand what the
nature and future roles of the group should be.
The future of the Working Group could poten-
tially be supplemented with additional mem-
bers, or conversely subdivided into focus groups
that take on various portions of the plan which
are best suited to the interests and expertise that
members have.
Establishing early action items
A major consideration for this plan was to
ensure that it be visionary on the one hand,
while being practical and achievable on the
other. The result of these two approaches is that
there will inevitably be items of the plan that are
longer-term and many that can be considered
for early action items. Moving forward, the City
and Working group should establish a list of
items that can be explored and considered for
near term advancement.
These could potentially include the following;
•Work with the development community to ensure
that future proposals respond to the various ele-
ments of this plan.
•Use the 22x34 Poster “Illustrative Plan” to advo-
cate and educate people regarding the future
goals and qualities of the North River Canal
Corridor.
•Develop a clear understanding of how the implica-
tions and recommendations from this plan affect
existing zoning.
•Build relationships with existing property owners
to seek ways to accomplish short term access
from the surrounding neighborhoods to the canal
and waterfront
—From Mason Street to Commercial
— From Franklin to the MBTA Station
— Along the river’s waterfront
— Between Commercial Street and Flint
— From Flint to Grove
•Work with the community to identify methods to
enhance the maintenance of Leslie’s Retreat Park
— Clean-up programs (Adopt a Park program,
Etc.)
•Work with the City to understand how an
improved pedestrian connection can be estab-
lished between Franklin Street and the downtown
(via the MBTA Station) on the City owned parcels.
•Pursue baseline traffic improvements
—Pedestrian and Safety improvements
— Operational improvements
— New signals
— Converting Flint Street into a one-way street
— Incorporating the extension of Hanson in the
RFP/ redevelopment process
Implementing the Plan
Many of the Working Group members acknowl-
edged the importance of creating a means by
which the plan can be implemented to ensure
4.3North River Canal Corridor
that its goals and design characteristics are
being considered. There are many methods by
which the items in this plan can be put into a
framework for review. These include:
Implementation Committee
The City may wish to establish an implementa-
tion committee with a membership similar to
that of the working group to assist in imple-
menting the goals of the plan.
Rezoning
Some of the recommendations of this plan may
already be consistent with current zoning, while
others may need to be considered for future
zoning updates.
Establish a Design Review Committee
In addition to the regulatory requirements of
zoning, there are circumstances when Design
Review Committees can be established to review
potential development submissions as they
occur. Following the model of this successful
design review board of the Salem Redelopment
Au thority, the City may wish to explore appropri-
ate design review for this study area.
Future Permitting
Given the location of this study area, it should
also be noted that certain projects could be sub-
ject to review under Section 106 of the National
Historic Preservation Act, Massachusetts
Chapter MGL Chapter 9. sec. 26-27c as amend-
ed by St. 1988 c.254, and/or local historic dis-
trict review. In addition, several sites may have
brownfields issues that will require subsequent
permitting and site clean up/rehabilitation.
Massachusetts Chapter 91 Regulations will also
apply to sites that fall within that jurisdiction.
Longer-Term Planning Goals
and Coordinating Planning Efforts
The Master plan also has recommendations that
are most likely to occur in the longer-term. In
addition to the recommendations this plan, it
should be noted that there were numerous plan-
ning studies that were being undertaken within
or adjacent to the planning area that will ulti-
mately impact the recommendations that are
included within this plan. While this plan
responds to many of the preliminary ideas that
are being pursued in other planning studies, it
should also be noted that this plan does not nec-
essarily endorse the preliminary concepts from
those plans that were available at the time of
this study. There are, however, many circum-
stances where the recommendations of this plan
are structured to advance and complement the
future potential of these additional studies.
Some of the longer-term goals and planning
coordination of efforts include;
•The extension of Commercial Street to the MBTA
Site and Bridge Street.
•The implementation of Commercial uses (Given
the current soft market related to commercial
uses)
• North Shore major investment study
–The MBTA is exploring several options to
improve rail options to Salem. One of options
being studied would use the rail line that runs
along the canal.
•The Federal Court reconstruction project
To ensure that the longer-term goals are kept on
the “radar screen”, this plan should be coordinat-
ed with other planning efforts that are currently
being undertaken within the North River Canal
Corridor. Some of these include:
•North Street Reconstruction
— This could affect the design of the North and
Franklin Street intersection and the pedestrian
signalization at that intersection.
4.4 North River Canal Corridor
•MBTA Study Parking Garage Study
— This could affect the relocation of the existing
at-grade crossing and access points to the
future garage, as well as, and the redevelop-
ment of the waterfront edge.
•State Court Study
— This could affect the final design of the inter-
section of Bridge Street and North Street
•Bridge Street
— This could affect the design character of the
street (i.e. landscaped median or not), several
new access point to the Park as well as the
general operation of the street (i.e. on-street
parking during off peak demand)
4.5North River Canal Corridor
4.6 North River Canal Corridor