Business & Tech

Neighbors Petition Against Plans for Former Magarity Property

The petition has recently gone online to reach more community members.

Near neighbors of the former Magarity Ford dealership aren’t the only ones signing a petition against the current plan by Bowman Properties, according to petition organizer Terry Halpert.

The petition has been placed online, and has gained 370 signatures as of Monday afternoon, in addition to paper petitions already signed by near-neighbors.

“It is getting lots of signatures, as people are realizing what’s going on. It’s pretty amazing how many signatures are coming through, and it shows that there are real issues with the plans,” Halpert said.

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Halpert and other neighbors have put forth a list of concerns, written letters to The Chestnut Hill Local and began coordinating with to communicate their concerns to the larger community.

“It’s pretty simple. We are definitely not against development; we’re not against a mixed-use development. We bought our houses when it was Ford,” Halpert said.

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“But it is out of scale with the rest of Chestnut Hill. I think Chestnut Hill has a really lovely character, with two or three stories on the Avenue, space and light between buildings.”

The group took further steps in promoting its petition when , which Halpert said is a sign developer Richard Snowden intends to sidestep the Chestnut Hill Community Association to get the property rezoned. If the rezoning goes through, it creates long-term concerns for the neighbors.

“If  he succeeds with everything he is trying to do, it may be that the supermarket won’t succeed.  People might not come here and spend a lot of money in a high-end supermarket,” Halpert said. “It is then an amazingly dangerous thing. It could end up with really high buildings over the whole thing because [of the zoning], and he could sell that to anything.”

According to an article in the Chestnut Hill Local, Snowden will appear again before the CHCA at the Nov. 17 board meeting, and said City Council will not hold a public hearing on the matter until after then.

Neighbors, however, are not confident that the plans will adapt to their concerns.

“I would doubt any major change, but it is the last opportunity he might have to give anything back to Chestnut Hill,” Halpert said.


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