Officials met at Devens last week to review changes to the warrant article to rezone Vicksburg Square—changes that include an assurance that 25 percent of the proposed Vicksburg housing units developed in both Harvard and Ayer would be affordable—and to discuss strategies for turning out voters at Special Town Meeting on June 8 who are sympathetic to the rezoning proposal. A mid-May open house of Vicksburg Square is being planned.
Members of the Vicksburg Square Subcommittee of the Joint Boards of Selectmen and officials from MassDevelopment discussed contacting various individuals and groups who might attend and be sympathetic to the rezoning proposal, such as People of Ayer Concerned About the Environment (PACE), an Ayer organization concerned with environmental risks; the Rotary and Lions clubs of Harvard and Ayer; and various military and veterans organizations in Ayer, groups that might use “save our military heritage” as a rallying call.
Responding to concerns about proportional allocation of affordable units developed at Vicksburg Square, MassDevelopment’s Ed Starzec reviewed changes to the warrant article language that would ensure that 25 percent of units developed in both Harvard and Ayer would be affordable and qualify under Department of Housing and Community Development guidelines for inclusion in the towns’ subsidized housing inventories.
Starzec mentioned that MassDevelopment had submitted the language to the agency’s housing lawyer, who, he said, commented that the Vicksburg Square proposed limit of no more than 30 percent three-bedroom units may be discriminatory to other communities. Other communities have no such constraints, he said.
MassDevelopment’s final changes to the warrant are to be reviewed and voted on at the April 23 JBOS meeting. Simultaneous June 8 Town Meetings in Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley will vote on the proposal to rezone the square at Devens.
