QUINCY — West Quincy residents will hear from MBTA officials Wednesday night about their plan for building a bus depot at the site of a now-closed Lowes home-improvement store on Burgin Parkway. The plan is one of two that have been floated for the site, which is also being eyed by Amazon for a potential distribution facility.

"I think folks are anxious about what the impacts of development on that site would be," Ward 4 City Councilor Brian Palmucci, who is hosting the meeting, said. "I've heard from a lot of people . . . They're worried about the uncertainty."

The MBTA said in December that it was considering using the 13-acre parcel at 599 Burgin Parkway for a “state-of-the-art” bus maintenance and storage facility. The facility would service 120 buses that travel routes in Quincy, Weymouth, Hingham and Braintree, as well as a few that extend into other areas, including Dorchester.

The state agency will present the plan to nearby residents at 6 p.m. Wednesday at South-West Middle School, 444 Granite St.

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"Please be aware that as a state agency, the MBTA is not required to follow the normal permitting procedure for this project, which would have required a vote by the City Council," Palmucci said in a letter to residents. "As such, the normal public hearings before the city council, zoning board or planning board will not be a part of this process."

The MBTA currently operates a bus depot on Hancock Street that agency spokesman Joe Pesaturo said would close if a new one could be built on the Lowe’s site. He said no other sites in Quincy are being considered for the facility.

Amazon has not presented any formal plans to the city or neighbors, but Palmucci said an engineer for the online retailer expressed interest in the site.

“We are constantly exploring new locations and weighing a variety of factors when deciding where to develop sites to best serve customers; however, we don’t provide information on our future roadmap,” Shone Jemmott, an Amazon spokesperson, said in an email.

The site has been empty for over a year. Lowe’s shut its doors for good in November of 2018, one of 47 locations closed across the U.S. and Canada. Lowe’s was halfway through a 20-year lease on the property when it closed, and is reportedly still paying rent to the property owner, George Brewster. Palmucci said neither Amazon nor the MBTA have worked out a deal for control of the site.

"Who knows what will happen? But at the very least we'll start having a conversation," Palmucci said. "One of the biggest things I've heard from neighbors is the importance of maintaining pedestrian access. For that South Quincy neighborhood, that site is important for those folks to be able to walk to the (Quincy Adams) T station. That, and traffic."

The city councilor said he doesn't like either project. He said he thinks traffic impacts would be less with a bus maintenance facility than an industrial distribution center, but he said the MBTA project would also mean the city would lose out on about $600,000 per year in property taxes, since state agencies are exempt from paying taxes.

"Whoever it ends up being, we'll work with and try to mitigate the negative affects," he said.

Reach Mary Whitfill at mwhitfil@patriotledger.com.