New Bedford City Council vote may remove stumbling block to offshore wind jobs

NEW BEDFORD — Picture 400 to 500 workers ferrying in and out of New Bedford on a monthly basis to provide support for the multi-billion-dollar offshore wind industry in the year 2030.

Their base of operations would be the 27-acre New Bedford Foss Marine Commerce Terminal at 98 Front St., where five, 30-foot-high, 30,000-square-foot warehouses would be supplying five separate offshore wind developers.

Each warehouse would be operating 24 hours per day, and employ 10 to 15 people.

There would be space for New Bedford-based contractors providing services the developers will require.

And there would be an induction center where worker certifications would be checked before they shipped out.

That's the "homerun" scenario for the Foss Marine Terminal's phase 3, according to Andrew Saunders, president of New Bedford Foss Marine Terminal.

But there's a problem.

There is no 'homerun' scenario without warehouses

City zoning doesn't allow for more than one principal or main building per lot.

And the 27-acre Foss parcel is not only considered one lot under city zoning regulations, but it already has one principal building, called the foundry building.

It's historically significant, dating back to 1840, and the plan is to rehabilitate it, not raze it.

Saunders told City Councilors during a recent committee meeting that the current zoning regulations won't allow the warehouses to be built — though two developers have already tendered letters of intent for two of them.

Without warehouses, this 2030 homerun vision for the terminal won't come to pass, he said.

City Council takes giant step toward removing stumbling block

Saunders said the plan B would be to develop Foss Marine Terminal mostly as a laydown storage site for materials to be brought out to support construction, requiring far fewer workers.

The City Council took a giant step toward removing that stumbling block with an 8-3 vote Thursday, Sept. 26, to amend city zoning regulations.

That OK will need a second affirmative vote in an upcoming regular City Council meeting to become final.

Councilors Ian Abreu, Derek Baptiste, Shane Burgo, Naomi Carney, Leo Choquette, Brian Gomes, Joseph Lopes, and Ryan Pereira voted in favor of the zoning amendment.

Councilors Linda Morad, Maria Giesta and Shawn Oliver voted against it.

Planning Board provides favorable recommendation

The amendment will allow more than one principal building per lot within the waterfront industrial district. The Foss Terminal is within the district.

Those additional buildings will otherwise have to conform to the regulations governing building uses in the district.

Zoning regulations in all other city districts will remain the same.

In response to a question from Councilor Baptiste, Saunders said he first learned about this zoning issue 18 months ago, and began drafting the amendment.

The Planning Board has reviewed the proposed amendment and unanimously voted to favorably recommend it.

'A huge economic boon to the city of New Bedford'

Asked by Councilor Abreu to explain why the zoning change was important to the New Bedford waterfront and region, Saunders said, "I may sound egotistical when I say this, but I truly believe projects like this will be a huge economic boon to the city of New Bedford."

He said the $4 billion Vineyard Wind project will occupy one-third of one of seven offshore wind lease blocks south of Martha's Vineyard. He estimated there's room for 20 to 25 more in that size range.

"And because the city of New Bedford is the closest industrial port to those lease blocks, once the construction is done and you get the first electricity, you must start maintaining those things for the next 30 years. All that maintenance will come out of the city of New Bedford. It will be a huge boon to us," Saunders said.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: New Bedford City Council vote may remove stumbling block to offshore wind jobs