Several properties along Sturgis Way have been selected by the ad hoc Adult Use Overlay District Committee as their choice for an adult business zone.The site was chosen for its lack of proximity to residences, and for being slightly off the beaten track.
The committee gave its approval to the zone, which includes five parcels owned by three entities, subject to the approbation of Town Counsel George Pucci.The zone consists of 60, 75, 110, and 125 Sturgis Way.Also included in the zone is the single property on the newly created Quabish Road off Sturgis, and the former Stop and Shop property on Meadow Road.
“If Video Expo said, ‘Hey, let’s get out of where we are and move to Sturgis Way,’ that would be a good thing,” said Committee member Jim McGrail.“If they moved from where they are to Allied Drive, I think that there would be a lot of people in town that would be upset by that.”
Two properties, 30 and 45 Sturgis Way, were excluded due to their frontage on Enterprise Drive, and the entire McNeil Way for its proximity to Providence Highway.Committee members feared that an adult business could locate there and then place a sign in view of children going to one of the stores located along the road, or by a resident driving home to Station 250 or Jefferson Station.
“Let’s hope [an adult business] doesn’t go there, but if it does, you wouldn’t see it unless you were looking for it,” McGrail said.
Pucci, who was reached at home by telephone, said the zone appeared as if it would pass Constitutional muster, but withheld final judgment until he could see the details, according to Committee Chairman Sarah MacDonald.
The Committee had one dissenting member.Derek Moulton said he believed the parcels of land on Sturgis Way were smaller, and would thus likely be cheaper to develop than those on Allied Drive where the zone currently sits.“Smaller means cheaper and cheaper means easier,” he said.
Earlier in the meeting the Committee eliminated several other options that were also under consideration.The stretch of land between the Dedham Mall and the Boston line along Providence Highway was nixed for its high visibility and for being an entranceway into the town.
Allied Drive, as the only remaining option, was not favored because of the nearby residential neighborhood, as well as the train station and hotel in the area.Committee member Paul Reynolds said he did not want the impression visitors had of Dedham to be that of an adult entertainment complex.
The Committee considered eliminating the current zone on Allied Drive and Blue Hill Drive, but decided to retain it until Pucci had weighed in on the Constitutionality of the new district they were proposing.Former Dedham resident Eddie Germano, who now lives in Westwood, appeared before the committee and asked them not to include the Blue Hills Drive building that straddles the border.
“I would hope as neighbors, and as compassionate people, and as Dedhamites,” Germano said, “that you would have enough consideration and compassion for those of us who live only 35 or 40 feet away from this.”
The committee also briefly discussed several changes to the bylaw governing adult businesses.Committee member Bob Aldous wanted the special permit required for an adult business to be issued by the elected Planning Board and not the appointed Zoning Board of Appeals.
Aldous, who also serves on the Planning Board, said that elected officials are more responsive to the public.Planning Board members could be removed from office more easily if residents were unhappy with their decisions, he added.
Aldous also asked that the Selectmen alone approve a change of management at an adult business, and not the Building Commissioner as currently required. He said that such approvals more closely the role of the Selectmen than it did the Commissioner.
