There were few answers when town officials and residents asked pointed questions at the final public hearing on MassDevelopment’s Vicksburg Square rezoning proposal on May 21 at Devens.
Although public hearings had already been held, the most recent hearing was necessary to comply with the requirement that the warrant be delivered by MassDevelopment to the towns within 30 days of the last public hearing. That interval elapsed before the warrant could be produced.
Selectman Tim Clark favored the Vicksburg Square proposal, but had several reservations. He said, “There is a need to intervene with regard to the preservation of the buildings.” But he voiced concerns about not knowing who the developer of the project will be or what the developer might build, about understanding the costs implicit in the towns’ eventual jurisdiction of Devens, about community diligence in examining the rezoning proposal, and about the rationale for the proposal.
Clark expressed “discomfort with the increase in the housing cap to 350 units,” noting that “no one knows who the developer might be or what they might build.” He pointed out that whatever decisions MassDevelopment makes in selecting the developer, the towns will have responsibility for the development when MassDevelopment no longer has jurisdiction over Devens. Clark said, “The towns currently don’t know what the costs are going to be to manage Devens when they resume jurisdiction … If you come up short, you have to take it from the residents through increased taxes.”
Clark also questioned the diligence of the communities in investigating Vicksburg Square’s rezoning, saying that “you don’t take zoning changes lightly, and, in terms of the public understanding the implications and due diligence on this, I don’t think it’s been done.” He went on to say, “Let’s not candy-coat this. It’s a real estate decision. We have an asset being managed by a real estate company that says the asset is at risk. We are getting break-ins. We are getting vandalism. There is a risk of loss.”
Clark questioned MassDevelopment Executive Vice President Richard Montuori about whether there is support from the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) on 40B housing at Vicksburg Square. DHCD is the state agency that enforces the affordable housing laws for the commonwealth.
Clark said, “Because we are proposing an increase in housing, I’d be curious to find out if we’ve had any kind of letter of recognition or support from DHCD with regard to this.” Montuori promised a response from DHCD for the next day. [In a meeting with MassDevelopment on May 26, Director of Communications Adam Bickelman reported that Montuori would be contacting DHCD that afternoon.]
Harvard Selectwoman Lucy Wallace commented that the current proposal “has been keyed very directly toward development of affordable housing. Whatever development there is, that town [Harvard or Ayer, the two towns whose boundaries bisect Vicksburg Square] gets credit for affordable units.” She went on to say, “We are facing a lot of pressure from 40B and people are looking to this [the Vicksburg Square rezoning] to provide relief for a year or more.”
Clark responded, “We won’t know until we see a real project,” referring to the fact that the eventual proposal may or may not afford relief from the pressue to meet 40B requirements.
Wallace argued that the matter is a “chicken-and-egg” situation, saying that “you won’t see any real projects until you see zoning. We didn’t see projects on Ayer Road until we rezoned it to a commercial district.”
Shirley resident Hugh Field said, “Housing in Vicksburg Square is unique in that MassDevelopment owns the land but doesn’t pay taxes on the land. It’s not a market-valued piece of property, so housing can be rented or sold more cheaply.”
Harvard resident and School Committee member Stu Sklar asked, “If this passes on June 8, who picks the developer?” Montuori replied, “MassDevelopment will make the final decision on who the developer is, but we are going to include the towns as part of the interview process and the view of proposals. They are not going to be a part of the financial part of the negotiation; that will be solely MassDevelopment.”
Montuori said that once the developer is chosen and the property is sold, the owners will have to go through the Devens Enterprise Commission (DEC) for permitting, and that DEC will hold public hearings.
