New Bedford gets OK to put shops, restaurants on State Pier

The bill, which the state House and Senate passed just hours prior to a midnight deadline, included language that allowed for up to 20 percent of the square footage on the west side of State Pier, adjacent to MacArthur Drive, for “accessory uses.”

NEW BEDFORD — Retail shops and restaurants are now a possibility along portions of State Pier after the state’s legislature passed a $600 million economic development bond late Tuesday night, Sen. Mark Montigny’s office told The Standard-Times.

The bill, which the state House and Senate passed just hours prior to a midnight deadline, included language that allowed for up to 20 percent of the square footage on the west side of State Pier, adjacent to MacArthur Drive, for “accessory uses.”

“We must maximize the true potential of State Pier, and this fight was worth every bit of the political capital necessary to finally connect downtown with our unique working waterfront,” Montigny said in a statement Tuesday night. “Existing industry will remain intact and we can finally make much better use of what is essentially empty space right now.

“The public deserves enhanced access to the waterfront and this gives MassDevelopment and the Baker Administration the tools they need to get it done,” he said.

On Monday, Rep. Bill Straus compared the accessory uses to current establishment’s along State Pier like the Black Whale and Acushnet Creamery.

Entering Tuesday’s negotiations, the language had already passed within the Senate’s version of the economic development bill, however, it failed within the House.

Rep. Antonio F.D. Cabral worked Monday afternoon to provide wording that would appease mixed-use concerns on State Pier within the House.

“We’ve made great progress in trying to get some language in the House at least the New Bedford delegation can agree on and submit to for consideration,” Cabral told the Standard-Times on Monday. “I think it’s important to have some language there that will sort of govern there.”

The good news is an overdue for Montigny, Mayor Jon Mitchell and Tony Sapienza, chair of the Economic Development Council and co-chair of the Regeneration Committee. Each had publicly supported the idea of mixed use along State Pier for many years.

Montigny’s 2014 State Pier bond authorization of $25 million allows for an array of projects ranging from commercial fishing, to educational facilities and fresh produce and fish markets.

“To me it’s just so obvious that it would be an economic driver,” Sapienza said.

The language finally passed added the stipulation that mixed use operations couldn’t extend beyond 20 percent, which wasn’t present in the Senate’s version of the amendment.

The hope is that the small number of restaurants or retail shops will connect downtown with the waterfront, which Mitchell said services more than 100,000 people via the ferries.

Mitchell said a fundamental law of urban planning is that people walk incrementally, so to connect spaces there needs to be reason to explore further.

“I think you’ll start to see people drifting into the downtown if it doesn’t look like a vast expanse between the ferry terminal and the downtown on the other side,” the mayor said. “If there is some development in between they’re more likely to make that leap.”

The bill also included language to allow MassDevelopment to sign a lease to manage State Pier for a term not to exceed 35 years.