One of several buildings on the campus (glenhammills.com photo)
GLENHAM – Members of the Community Advisory Panel for the former Texaco Beacon Research Center and Chevron, the current owners of the campus and 93 adjoining acres announced Wednesday evening they are near completion of the charette report.
That culminates the community input and efforts of Chevron, setting forth a precedent for the intended development of the unused parcel in Glenham that has been the topic of community forums for the last two years.
Although the report does not include a comprehensive environmental review, dictate a plan of future development, or indicate what style of development will occur on the parcel, it does set forth a series of “guiding principles” including addressing traffic and infrastructure concerns, possible economic development opportunities for the community, focus on remediation, suggesting the protection of open space and keeping potential developers accountable.
Morty McKillop, who is leading community dialogue for Chevron, said the report shows a lot of value for the town, its residents and the school district.
Members of the community largely participated in the parameters the report would cover; however, many of them were still concerned with who the developer would be, how remediation would be oversaw and the state of contamination in drinking water wells located in the rear part of the parcel.
Chevron representatives said they believe the wells in that area show no detection of contaminants, but they still plan to uphold their responsibility in remediation, conducting engineering surveys on drinking water impacts and sewage capacity, legal research, an environmental investigation, as well as an environmental assessment.
As far as whom the potential developer will be, or how much the parcel will be sold for, has yet to be determined, said Chevron spokeswoman Quinn Tang.
“It will be the developer who will create a redevelopment project at this site,” Tang said. “Chevron will continue to be involved, particularly in the environmental remediation part of the project, because that is our obligation, and that is something we will continue to do.”
Development suggestions that have been presented include a mixed use village, mixed use campus, no build, trailhead, a corridor village, or possibly, a combination of open space and mixed use.
