Taunton residents voice concern over traffic, debris in neighborhoods from mall demolition
TAUNTON, Mass. (WLNE) – The demolition of the Silver City Galleria in Taunton is well underway, but residents in surrounding neighborhoods think the demolition is a nuisance and fear it will get worse over time.
The mall, which opened in 1992, has been closed for months and started being torn down in mid-February.
“It’s kind of surreal and terrible,” said Frank Lagace, a resident of East Taunton. “That was a place where people would gather and it’s just amazing that it went out of business.”
Lagace lives less than a mile from the defunct mall. He said he’s pro-development but lately has been bothered by construction crews.
“They’re gonna build a great industrial warehouse complex over there, so there will be jobs and tax money over there. But the demolition I’m concerned about,” he said. “We’ve had trucks hauling sheet metal down the street here, uncovered, spewing a little dust, and we really can’t have that on this street. We have enough traffic as it is. They should be using 140 and 24. They should stay out of the neighborhoods with that stuff.”
Lagace penned a letter to the Taunton Gazette, voicing his frustrations, and he said he’s not alone. He’s been listening in on city council meetings and said he heard residents on County Street complain of similar things, including debris and dust from the demolition seeping into neighborhoods.
He fears it will get worse as the demolition continues.
“Right now it’s minor, but, in the future, if they keep doing it the way it is, they’re supposed to be soaking down the demolition work at all times,” Lagace explained, “if they continue to do it the way they are with no dust suppression, the dust is gonna be everywhere, all over the neighborhood.”
Taunton City Councilor Christopher Coute said the issue of truck traffic was brought to the attention of Mayor Shaunna O’Connell, who spoke to the owner of the property, he said.
“From my understanding – and our discussion at City Council last week, this issue has been improved quite a bit,” Coute said in an email.
He added that he personally spoke to Mayor O’Connell regarding the dust and debris concerns, and said she had dispatched Bob Proizzi, building commissioner for the city, to conduct a site visit and speak with the general contractor, Chris Carney.
Due to the neighbors’ concerns, Coute said, he made a motion at last week’s city council meeting to send a referral to both the zoning board of appeals and planning board to restrict construction hours to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. It was approved unanimously.
ABC6 reached out to the developer for comment but did not receive a response.
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