Nick K wrote today about the Lincoln Square projects being designated as a priority development site which would expedite the permitting process. Guess who was teh first company to take advantage of this process???
Yep--Pharmasphere. Go to google and do a search on "Pharmasphere expedited permitting process". Remember those were the guys, who specialize won th Canterbury Street RFP for $1 in January of 2008, who almost three years later have yet to take title to the property.
Three years we have sat on this parcel and have not collected one penny in property taxes. Why this property has not been put on for another RFP when the LDA expired this past September escapes me?
Same Time Next Year
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It’s been nearly a year since I wrote about the problems that come from
having 11 bosses who are not on the same page about anything, as well as
suggestion...
4 months ago
2 comments:
According to an article in this morning’s T&G, Barbara Haller asked about PharmaSphere during an economic update by the administration at last night’s City Council meeting.
Here is an excerpt, “Ms. Haller also asked about progress on PharmaSphere’s plans to build a futuristic 50,000-square-foot indoor plant-growing facility at 49 Canterbury St. She said promises have been made, but added that it has “delivered nothing.”
She said if progress is not made by Jan. 31, the advisory committee connected to the project will likely recommend re-bidding to attract another developer. .”
Here is a link to the full article - http://www.telegram.com/article/20101215/NEWS/12150413
Anyone ever wait in line at the cash register for what seems like hours on end and then after 10 minutes another register opens right next to the register you're in line at and someone who is just approaching the registers with their loaded shoppign cart gets first dibs on the newly open cash register. Do you feel like you've been slighted b/c the newly arrived cashier should have said that the newly open register would take the next person in the current line?
Ever go to a wake and wait in line for an hour ... and 5 minutes into your hour long wait along comes a city councilor who starts shaking hands at the end of the line and in 15 minutes he has made his way to the head of the line only to be exiting the wake while you still have a 40 minute wait ahead of you. Well it's happened to me twice with same former councilor at the same Funeral home. Again do you feel slighted?
The same analogy could be made for immigrants who come here and obtain citizenship by waiting inline and living up to what the law requires.
So let's say you're a small time Wormtownite and you're building an addition onto your existing Worc business and you have been working the permitting process for 9 months and you know you still have 4 more months to go before you're shovel ready. Along comes Mr. Important Developer/Development and they get to go to the head of the line via Expedited Permitting.
Nice ....huh......and you, Mr Wormtownite have been doing business in Worcester for decades, you pay your excessive commercial property taxes early every quarter, you quietly and w/o fanfare donate generously to local charities.... now the City pushes you to the back of the permitting bus.
HOW WOULD YOU FEEL?
Probably the same way you feel about TIF's, commercial tax rates, and a dwindling/poorer Worc customer base.
Well soon, I Mr. Worcester Businessperson, is getting on another bus AND GETTING IN THE FRONT SEAT OF THAT BUS. And the sign on that bus will not say Tatnuck or webster Sq or Lincoln St ...instead it will say Westboro or Framingham. And as the bus leaves Worc all you'll be able to see is the license plate which will read "FU WOO".
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