If the case is settled through mediation it will be the end of a protracted battle between this citizen's group and the developers who make up Assembly Square Limited Partnership, Gravistar Inc. and Taurus New England Investments Corp. The developers also have plans for two other parcels within the 145-acre Assembly Square district.

The battle has its roots in the developer's push to build a 176,000-sf Home Depot on this site. The city wanted to see mixed-use development in all new district projects and the developers agreed to include an office complex, a hotel, a waterfront park and structured parking in the project. The developers signed a memorandum of agreement with the city in November 2000 and received a special permit from the city to build its project.

Bill Shelton, president of Mystic View Task Force tells GlobeSt.com that the special permit did not require the developers to study the impact its project would have on the city. Sean Fitzgerald, spokesperson for city Mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay, confirms for GlobeSt.com that the developers received a special permit for their project but could not confirm whether the developers were required to do a site plan review. An abutter to the project, with the help of Mystic View, sued to stop the project from going forward. "All the suit does is ask the court to enforce the Somerville zoning process. The developers should present the potential impact the project would have on the town," says Shelton.

Shelton contends that the suit was filed a year ago and the developers could have presented their findings in that time. Instead a series of motions were filed by the developers to dismiss the case on various grounds. Those motions were denied.

A previous attempt at mediation happened a few months ago but ended with Mystic View walking out on the proceedings. Shelton says that that is because the attorney for the developers insisted that there would be no changes made to the Home Depot plan. But Shelton is hopeful that this time the mediation will work. "The law doesn't have the power to create. It can just decide," he says. "We can form creative solutions where the law cannot."

Peter Merrigan, managing partner at Taurus, tells GlobeSt.com that his company has agreed to do mediation to settle the suit. "We will try to be as flexible as we can be," he says. He couldn't comment on alternate plans for the site other than to say, "Any design changes that will occur will unfold during mediation." Home Depot will be sending representatives to the meeting as well.

Shelton says that his group is prepared to be flexible also. "We're not saying there can be no Home Depot," he says. "We just want one that is consistent with state and local law."

After a year and a half, O'Neill says the city just wants to see something go up in that site. "We cannot let this area continue to remain an undeveloped eyesore," he says. "It will generate a tax base the city desperately needs." And he adds, the stakes go even higher. "We see this project as a linchpin that could create an urban village for this district. It will spur on the other developments."

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Home Depot is Sticking Point in Mall Mediation

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