Brookline and Newton residents are voicing concerns over the Chestnut Hill Square development along Route 9 being proposed by Newton-based New England Development. It would include 226 luxury condominiums, 191,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, and a 40,000-square-foot grocery store.

Brookline town officials are challenging a state environmental analysis that is enabling a developer to move forward with plans to build more than 200 condominiums and about 200,000 square feet of retail space along Route 9.

Meanwhile, the town will hold a public hearing this week to hear from Brookline and Newton residents who want to put the brakes on traffic that is likely to flow from the proposed development into neighboring residential streets.

“The traffic impacts of this enormous development are definitely worrisome,” said Janice Kahn, a Chestnut Hill resident who is a Town Meeting member. “There’s no question that this site is underutilized and needs to be developed. The question is developing it in a way that makes sense for an area that abuts a residential neighborhood.”

At issue is the Chestnut Hill Square development – 226 luxury condos, 191,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, and a 40,000-square-foot grocery store – that is being proposed by Newton-based New England Development.

The state’s Executive of Environmental Affairs issued a final environmental impact report on the project last month, ruling that the project adequately and properly complies with state environmental law.

But some local officials and residents disagree. They say the project is too dense and that the developer has not adequately addressed concerns about traffic flow and other impacts. Brookline officials filed a notice of intent with the Executive of Environmental Affairs last week, reserving its right to appeal the state’s decision.

The town has not yet decided whether to take the next step, which would be to pursue an appeal in court, Brookline Town Counsel Jennifer Dopazo told Banker & Tradesman last week.

The site of the proposed Chestnut Hill Square sits on Route 9 in Newton on the Brookline line, directly across from the Chestnut Hill Mall. That corridor of Route 9 is heavily congested with traffic, particularly during rush hour, and a development would only exacerbate traffic problems, according to critics.

Neighbors fear that drivers trying to bypass Route 9 traffic will travel through Florence and Heath streets, as well as other side streets.

“Already there’s quite a bit of cut-through traffic in neighboring streets,” said Kahn.

Kahn and 100 other residents have signed a petition that would make Heath Street, which runs through Brookline and becomes Florence Street in Newton, dead-end at the Newton line.

The Brookline Transportation Board will hold a public hearing about the proposal on Thursday. The town would have to get approval from either the city of Newton or the state to close off the road.

“That’s something that we would not enter into lightly. We would need to hear first and foremost from the residents of [Florence Street] and the surrounding streets to see what kind of impact that would have on them before acquiescing to that request,” Jeremy Solomon, director of policy and communication for the city of Newton, told Banker & Tradesman. “There’s a process that would have to be followed that would include the important element of public input.”

Since the project sits in Newton, Brookline officials have no authority over the permitting of the project. Solomon said the developer will have to rezone the 11.5-acre property, which is currently zoned for 3-story buildings.

‘A Great Site’
The developer wants to build two 14-story residential towers over 2 stories of retail space, which will have access to Route 9. A separate 6-story tower with access to Florence Street is also part of the plan.

Douglass Karp, senior vice president with New England Development, said his firm has not applied for any permits yet, but likely will seek a rezoning and apply for a special permit within the next few months. The site consisted of a retail/office complex and an Omni Foods grocery store before a fire broke out there in 2000, killing five people. The fire destroyed the retail and office space, but the grocery store remained for several years until it shut down late last fall.

“It’s a great site in a great city,” said Karp. “It’s basically an underutilized site that is substantially paved over Â… we’re trying to bring it up to 2007 standards for development.”

Karp said the company believes there is a need for condos designed for empty nesters who want to live in a city setting like Newton.

“We think that there is a want and need for a certain amount of condo units for people who live in Newton who are empty nesters. They might own a second home in Florida and don’t want to still live in the home that they raised their children in. And the options that they want don’t exist,” he said.

Karp’s company pitched a proposal in 2002 to build a hotel, offices, a grocery store, 570,000 square feet of retail space and 330 housing units. After dozens of meetings, Karp said the project was scaled down to address the concerns of city officials and neighborhood groups.

Today, the plan calls for 226 condos – including 34 onsite affordable units – and only 191,000 square feet of restaurant and retail space, as well as the grocery store.

“In fairness to the developer, they have scaled their proposal down quite a bit,” said Solomon.

But in a letter responding to the state’s environmental impact report, Newton Planning Director Michael Kruse said despite the changes, the project “still appears to be inconsistent in terms of scale and design with the existing single- and two-family residences along the south side of Florence Street.”

Kruse also noted that project density may be excessive for the site and that a consulting firm hired by Newton expressed concerns about the proposed traffic improvements and assessments made by the developer’s traffic engineer.

“We remain concerned that the proposed residential and retail density may be excessive for the site and, as detailed by our traffic and circulation peer review consultant, are concerned that the proposed traffic mitigation measures may not be the most appropriate solution for the additional traffic on Route 9,” he wrote.

According to Solomon, the project will provide additional retail and economic development opportunity for the city, generating an estimated $2.9 million in tax dollars annually. Solomon said the developer has “tried very hard to address the traffic issue.”

“This developer has been very responsible and responsive and that’s encouraging. However, there are many bites of this apple,” said Solomon, explaining that the developer still has to appear before the various boards and commissions for approval.

Robert Allen, chairman of Brookline’s Board of Selectmen, said while Newton stands to gain from an economic development standpoint, some Brookline residents feel that the town won’t realize as many benefits.

“We’re concerned that we’re going to receive all the detriments of the project while Newton will receive all the benefits of the project,’ said Allen, who sent a letter to the state secretary of environmental affairs last month requesting a supplemental environmental analysis.

New England Development, which developed the Atrium Mall and Capital Grille Restaurant – located near the proposed development – has pledged to provide more than $13 million for road and other infrastructure improvements.

The improvements include adding another travel lane on both the east and west side of Route 9 stretching from the bridge at Hammond Pond Parkway through the Langley Road intersection.

The developer also has proposed installing a median break and adding turning lanes in front of the Chestnut Hill Mall and Chestnut Hill Square that would enable motorists leaving the mall to take a left on Route 9 and head eastward.

Karp said his firm also wants to install traffic lights at the Route 9 on- and off-ramps leading to Hammond Pond Parkway, add an MBTA bus stop in front of the development and make improvements to the intersection of Heath Street and Hammond Pond Parkway

“Our goal .. is that we can’t make traffic flow any worse. It’s got to stay at least the same or get better and we believe we’re making the traffic situation better by [providing] the $13 million in traffic improvements,” said Karp.

But some residents and local officials aren’t convinced.

“How do they really think they can mitigate traffic on the smaller streets in Brookline and Newton?” asked Anthony Andreadis, a Heath Street resident who is chairman of the Chestnut Hill Village Alliance, a group representing Brookline and Newton residents.

Andreadis said traffic studies have indicated that the development would generate anywhere from 10,000 to 12,000 additional car trips a day. Route 9 carries 50,000 cars daily, said Andreadis.

“If you’re adding 10,000 to 12,000 cars, you’re literally increasing traffic by 20 percent,” said Andreadis.

Jeff Levine, Brookline’s planning director, said many feel that the level of traffic mitigation isn’t sufficient for the level of impact.

“We just don’t think it matches,” he said.