Task Force To Explore Supermarket Proposal

The Cambridge City Ordinance Committee set up a Task Force last night to further investigate a proposal by Stop and Shop to buy Riverside Road and build a new and larger store on site of its current Memorial Drive location.

In order to build a new 78,000 square foot store, Stop and Shop wants to buy the road, which currently borders a vacant lot near the store, from the city for $1 million. The store is also requesting that the state lift a ban on truck traffic on state parkways in order to allow trucks to use Memorial Drive.

Although residents last night said they supported building the store, some expressed concern with the specifics of the plan, including the size of the store, the noise and traffic it would generate, the rezoning requirements, safety surrounding it and a proposed liquor store.

Cambridge Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72 called the meeting "an excellent opportunity for the neighborhood and Stop and Shop to reach a compromise so that they have safety and get the store too."

But the meeting indicated no further agreements. Stash Horowitz, a resident of Florence Street, said the new store would have walls within 25 feet of his home and that he would like to see a scaled-down plan.

And Bill A. Sage, whose family owns the Howard Johnson's adjacent to the store, said he was concerned with new noise levels.

Stop and Shop vice-president Charles A. Richards, who spoke for the store, said he has been meeting with officials and residents of the neighborhood for the past few years and has made numerous compromises.

"I am frankly discouraged that the process has moved as slowly as it has," he said.

Some residents said they were worried that the store would shut down if the plan was not passed. But Richards said his company was "not talking about closing a store, but building a beautiful [one]."

Richards also said that in order for the plan to be economically feasible, "We are not prepared to build a smaller store."

If the state does not allow the store to use Memorial Drive, Richards said no alternate plans have been designed for the store that satisfy both Stop and Shop and the city.

Reeves said, "We can't take 800 years to make a decision as to where a market should be."

Mark A. Govoni, a representative of the Local 1445 United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, called Stop and Shop "a good operator." Govoni said Stop and Shop tries to hire many employees from the surrounding neighborhood and "that neighborhood could use some jobs."

The new store would provide 250 more jobs at the store and 200 construction jobs, Richards said.

Catherine Hoffman spoke for Ward 5, a neighborhood group trying to develop a common plan for the neighborhood. Hoffman said her group supports the formation of a task force to examine the proposal more fully.

The ordinance committee agreed on a modified version of Hoffman's task force which will include City Manager Robert W. Healy's input. The proposal should be deliberated again before the end of June.