“No option is off the table,” said Selectman Bob Eubank, “but the town needs to clearly understand the impact of resuming jurisdiction of Devens.” He was responding to a question from Planning Board member Joe Sudol, who worried that the selectmen will not take a second look at forming a new town at Devens.
Eubank’s sentiments were echoed by fellow Selectmen Lucy Wallace and Tim Clark at last Thursday’s public hearing to discuss criteria which must be met before Harvard would accept the return of jurisdiction over the land within its historic borders.
Consisting of land taken from the towns of Ayer, Shirley, Lancaster and Harvard in 1917, Fort Devens was slated for closure in 1991, leaving only the Lancaster portion in army hands. The remaining parcel, now known as Devens, has been under development by MassDevelopment since 1994, when the three remaining towns agreed to temporary development and governance plans with an end date of July 1, 2030.
Now that there are non-military families living at Devens, almost entirely within historic Harvard boundaries, the need to resolve issues of governance, education, and housing has accelerated.
A scenario to create a new town of Devens, which would have included the return of specific parcels to the three towns, was developed and presented for approval by the respective parties in the fall of 2006. This plan, called 2B, was rejected in Harvard at a special town meeting and at the polls.
At the Annual Town Meeting earlier the same year, the voters also rejected a 2B proposal; however, a larger number of voters at the polls approved it as an advisory question. Another advisory question on that ballot, asking if the town should seek to resume jurisdiction over its portion of Devens, was rejected by the voters.
Wallace, Eubank, and Clark held Thursday’s hearing before an audience of twenty-four participants: twelve from Harvard, ten from Devens, and two from Ayer. Wallace explained that after the “new town” scenario failed in the fall, the selectmen voted to look at the scenario of the village of Devens being incorporated into Harvard. She described the economic, environmental and cultural goals shared by the Harvard and Devens communities and invited feedback on acceptance criteria originally adopted in May of 2005.
Education
“If jurisdiction is going to happen, immediately take care of the children,” pleaded Devens Committee member Phil Crosby, who urged the selectmen to seek a large parcel of land like Salerno Circle for a future school building location. Concern for the uncertainty faced by parents of school-age children at Devens was echoed by School Committee Chairwoman Willie Wickman. “Devens parents don’t know more than a year or two out where their children will be going to school,” she said, adding that her committee is ready and willing to talk.
Devens Committee member Dave Winters reminded those present that if Devens returns to Harvard, there would be no further uncertainty, because Devens children would be educated in Harvard, just like any other Harvard schoolchildren. Wickman worried about the last bullet point, calling for the development of a neighborhood elementary school on Devens. She explained that the School Committee is expecting a recommendation on school building needs from a facility study group. There was general agreement that time is critical on the education issue. Devens Resident David Hopper acknowledged that he voted against 2B because it didn’t properly address the education piece.
Housing
The 2005 document calls for a housing cap of 600 to 800 units at Devens. Harvard resident Bruce Leicher expressed concern about even 600 units, wondering if the number should be capped at the 282 units already developed. Devens resident Rick Barklow wondered how Harvard could try to put a cap on the number of houses. “It’s going to be densely developed no matter what you do,” he said.
Crosby advocated for enough housing to create a viable residential community, somewhere around 1,000 units. “I don’t want to be an isolated island,” he said.
There was concern from the Devens residents that Harvard would attempt to solve its affordable housing shortage by locating more than the state-mandated percentage at Devens. “We wouldn’t expect the ratio of housing to be any different from the rest of Harvard,” Devens Committee member Mike Boucher stated.
Former selectman and Planning Board member Bill Ashe cautioned, “You need to know what the natural resources are before you can plan the housing.”
Character
When Wallace asked what broad categories were missing, Devens residents Boucher and Winters talked about character, “that which makes a community or town unique.” Boucher reminded the selectmen that the Devens community wants to stay whole, including the small number of residents located within the historical boundaries of Ayer, requiring some boundary adjustments. “I imagine that Harvard would like to keep Devens consistent with the flavor of Harvard,” Winters added.
In a memorandum to the selectmen regarding the criteria, the Planning Board expressed concern about character. The planners asked, “How will we integrate two such different entities? How will we maintain the sense of community that we value so much and extend it to Devens as well?”
Boucher advocated for criteria specifying better road access from the core of Devens into the center of Harvard. “I don’t want to ride my bike to vote,” he commented dryly, referring to the specification for foot and bike paths. Hopper added, “If we’re talking about knitting these communities together, that access is going to be essential.” Resident Steve Finnegan urged caution in consideration of the residents living on roadways that connected to Devens before the fort was developed, and suggested seeking some previously unconsidered access options.
Zoning
In its memorandum, the Planning Board asked, “What does it mean that zoning control would be transferred to the Town of Harvard, when most of the existing buildings at Devens are inconsistent with our existing protective bylaws?” Planning board member Sudol worried that even with jurisdiction, Harvard would have no control over zoning or development. Harvard resident Keith Cheveralls wanted to know, “Who controls things? How much of a battle do you expect with MassDevelopment?” Wallace reminded him that Harvard can’t ignore the plan in place. “We can’t expect to superimpose Harvard’s zoning,” she said. Eubank suggested that the criteria should include identification of where decision-making resides at any given point in the transfer process.
Financial sustainability
Wallace expressed frustration with getting current financial information for Devens from MassDevelopment. She is expecting assistance from State Senator Pam Resor in setting up a meeting to obtain the necessary information. Resident Jim Ware recommended a full comparison of the costs and potential revenues under each scenario.
Utilities
Devens resident Bob Eisengren suggested an investigation into extending water and sewer lines from Devens to other parts of Harvard. Finnegan recommended a thorough understanding of the ownership of the utilities at Devens to enable a predictable process of transfer. Taking that thought further, Sudol urged limiting the ability of MassDevelopment to commit those resources during the period between a decision to retake jurisdiction and the actual turnover.
Municipal services
To Boucher’s concern that Harvard’s current on-call fire department would not be adequate to service the high-tech facilities at Devens, Wallace answered that Devens would require a separate regional station of paid firefighters. Clark suggested that the federal and state entities located at Devens, which require a certain response criteria, should be asked to take responsibility for their own facilities.
Open space and recreation
Ashe announced with pride that all three open space and recreation criteria have already been met and are awaiting sign-off from MassDevelopment. That includes maintenance plans for recreation and natural resource areas, inventories of all open space lands, and permanent protection for conservation lands.
Next Steps
Ayer selectman Frank Maxant told the group that Ayer is conducting a similar process, looking at taking back jurisdiction of its portion of Devens. Sudol suggested looking at why 2B failed, and Leicher expressed concern about analyzing one scenario at a time, to which Wallace replied, “Let’s analyze them both and then look at them together.” Clark summarized, “There’s no way we’ll be bringing just one option back to the voters.”
Wallace urged interested parties to email additional thoughts on the criteria to Town Administrator Tim Bragan at tbragan@harvard.ma.us. The three selectmen will then integrate comments into the existing document, after which they will present the revised document to the joint boards of the three towns.
