The Clarus Maplewood project was in Planning Board review starting August, 2015 and was granted preliminary approval in mid-October. The plan was granted final approval in December after the applicant formalized the late-hour changes made in October.
What is often unclear to observers at Planning Board meetings is that the focus there is strictly limited to review of the project relative to the zoning that is already “on the books”–in this case, the Redevelopment Plan approved in 2013. Most notably, financial analysis is rarely, if ever, the permitted topic of discussion.
Unfortunately, the time for analysis–either during planning in 2011-2013 or in early 2015 when the financials of the proposed project were available–had long past when the Planning Board hearings started. This possibility was anticipated in an op-ed article in early 2013 which cautioned to public to insist on more thorough review of desired outcomes then, rather than at (2015) Planning Board hearings as intended by Mayor DeLuca.
The pages in this section of our timeline (menu items under “Timeline>Results:Analysis and Discussion” above) include analysis that took place during 2015 and 2016 and was shared publicly during that time. Little of this material was included in the Planning Board review, for the reasons outlined above.
Oh No 60 