Mayor Announces Planning, Redevelopment Hires

BrocktonPost
BROCKTON--From the Mayor's Office:
Mayor Linda M. Balzotti recently has announced Foxboro's long-time town planner will lead the reinstated Brockton Redevelopment Authority and a consultant has been hired to aid Brockton 21st Century Corp. focus on redevelopment of the downtown.
Balzotti said in a prepared statement the moves are expected to herald a new era of revitalization in Brockton--efforts that are led by qualified experts with backgrounds in the fields of economic development and planning.
“Having personnel in these vital positions gives Brockton the ability to plan not just for today, but for the future in a thoughtful and efficient way,” Balzotti said in the statement.
Marc Resnick has been named executive director of the Brockton Redevelopment Authority and is expected to start work Monday, March 7.
Resnick has over two decades of planning experience, and has most recently been the Foxborough Town Planner since 2001.
While in Foxboro, he managed the municipal review of plans and site construction for Patriot Place at Gilette Stadium and coordinated the planning, rezoning, and permitting for the redevelopment of the 150-acre Foxborough State Hospital site. Resnick replaces interim Executive Director Anne Marie Belrose, who will stay on as the BRA’s Director of Finance and Compliance.
“We believe we have found someone with excellent planning credentials who will get us moving in the downtown and in the city in general, toward revitalization,” said Gerry Smith, Chairman of the Brockton Redevelopment Authority, in a prepared statemet.
In July 2010, Balzotti re-established the Brockton Redevelopment Authority. The mission of the BRA is to distribute federal Community Development Block Grants, for the benefit of all Brockton residents.
The BRA has taken over equitably distributing the block grants from the now defunct Building a Better Brockton--an agency that was eliminated after it was shown the board had numerous conflict of interests surrounding how the money was paid out.
In addition to full-time staff members, the BRA also has a new board of directors.
Also, McCabe Enterprises has begun work as the development planning consultant to the Brockton 21st Century Corporation.
The Massachusetts Department of Community Housing and Development awarded the Brockton 21st Century Corporation $90,000 in October 2010 to fund the hiring of a consultant to focus on downtown redevelopment including moving projects forward and developing a pipeline of potential development, community stabilization opportunities and neighborhood revitalization efforts in the Campello neighborhood. The grant award expires in September of 2011.
Kathleen McCabe, principal of Boston-based McCabe Enterprises, has a strong background in planning and economic development.
The McCabe team working with B21 will include Urban Planner Jen Mecca, lawyers Betsy Lane and Jeanne McKnight of Kopleman and Page, and Peter Bradley of Project Management.
Also, Rian Amiton has been hired as the city’s new junior planner.
As junior planner, Amiton will focus on site plan and development impact review, demographic analysis; conducting planning studies relative to land use, open space, housing, economic development and transportation.
Most recently Amiton has been an associate planner at Larry Koff and Associates in Brookline.
Amiton holds a master's degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University. He holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of Oregon, Eugene.
For more information about the Brockton Redevelopment Authority, please call 508- 586-3887. For more information about the Brockton 21st Century Corporation, please contact Mary Waldron at 508-586-0021. For any other questions, please call the mayor’s office at 508-580-7123.