June 7, 2012 – If the Quincy City Council gives its blessing, the vision of turning Southern Artery’s Souther Tide Mill into a tourist-drawing seafood operation may come true for two Quincy businessmen.
Submitted by Tide Mill Partners LLC — consisting of John Urbanus – owner of the Commonwealth Site Works of Quincy, and Steve Curran, owner of the Fox & Hound restaurant in Quincy — the design includes 30 boat slips, a packaging station, a retail store, and a boardwalk, and would be used for commercial fishing and industrial purposes.
Although the proposal was made to the city in 2010, difficulties determining proper use for the “Designated Port Area” put things on hold. Under that designation, only marine and industrial uses are allowed on the property.
The city had been trying to reach an agreement with Thayer Academy for a rowing facility, but the state’s Department of Environmental Protection eventually denied the permit, citing the designation.
While Thayer’s plans went underwater, the existing proposal from Tide Mill Partners has remained in place.
Quincy city councilors briefly discussed the plans at their meeting last Monday and referred the subject to committee. There, councilors will vet the proposal and discuss leasing the land.
According to Mike Cheney, a former Quincy city councilor and project manager for the development, the development would create a seafood-processing plant on the South Shore, a rarity outside of Boston.
Read the full story at the Boston Globe.