A revived effort to develop a pro soccer stadium in Everett, Massachusetts, was being discussed at a public hearing Tuesday. Both legislative branches have previously endorsed language to spur a key zoning change.
The latest attempt to spark construction of a future home for Robert Kraft's New England Revolution in Greater Boston was filed by Sen. Sal DiDomenico in December.
His bill would remove a 43-acre parcel of land situated partly in Boston and Everett from its "designated port area" status "for the purpose of converting the parcel into a professional soccer stadium and a waterfront park." The designation is meant to "promote and protect water-dependent industrial uses," according to the Office of Coastal Zone Management.
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The parcel on the Mystic River, eyed by Everett officials and The Kraft Group as a potential new home for the Revolution, who play at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, is currently occupied by a defunct power plant. It's situated across from Encore Boston Harbor.
DiDomenico's bill, should it advance and be signed into law, would mark one victory in a multi-year permitting effort, as the project would also require environmental and transportation reviews from the state, plus local zoning approval.
In written testimony shared ahead of the hearing, the Conservation Law Foundation said it opposes DiDomenico's bill and called "spot zoning" -- or carveouts for zoning rules for one specific land parcel or developer --"bad planning."
Senior attorney Maggie Sullivan said CLF does not oppose Everett's hopes for a soccer stadium, but she warned that removing one of the state's 10 working ports with deep-water access could harm the state's clean energy goals. Traffic congestion on game days could also increase air pollution in Somerville, Everett and Boston, she said.
The Legislature should be cautious about "shrinking our port footprint and undermining our clean energy goals, and make sure any stadium is one that fans can actually get to and that neighboring communities embrace without regret," Sullivan said.
Language facilitating construction of an Everett stadium won House approval in an economic development in mid-July 2022, but Senate negotiators did not agree to it as part of a compromise bill.
Then in 2023, the Senate incorporated similar language into a supplemental spending bill to pave the way for a stadium. But that provision didn't make it into the conference committee report following closed-door House-Senate negotiations, and revelations over a separate agreement may have scrambled a possible deal.
DiDomenico is listed as a "third-party overseer" in a November memorandum of agreement between Everett and NRS, LLC, a Delaware company with its "principal place of business at One Patriot Place, Foxborough, Massachusetts."
The signed document calls for a "world-class stadium" with about 25,000 seats at 173 Alford Street, plus an "enticing public park" on the waterfront. There would only be 75 on-site parking spots, and NRS would study improving pedestrian infrastructure to encourage public transportation use.
The bill was the only item on the agenda for the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies hearing.