MassDevelopment and the Vicksburg Square Subcommittee of the Joint Boards of Selectmen will conduct another public hearing on the proposed Vicksburg Square zoning changes on May 21 at Devens due to the failure to meet a deadline for submitting a warrant. The hearing is required to comply with provisions of MGL Chapter 498 of the Acts of 1993, the legislation that established the Devens Regional Enterprise Zone, the Devens Reuse Plan, the Devens Enterprise Commission, and the zoning bylaws that govern Devens.
According to Chapter 498, MassDevelopment has 30 days after the last public hearing to submit a warrant to the towns of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley. This deadline was not met after the last properly posted public hearing held in Ayer on March 24.
According to Ed Starzec, director of land entitlements for MassDevelopment, in order to fulfill the Chapter 498 requirement that “notice of said public hearings shall be provided in a newspaper or newspapers of general circulation in the Devens Region at least fourteen days prior to the dates established for said hearings,” the notice for the hearing was posted in the Lowell Sun on May 7. Starzec said that immediately following the close of the public hearing, MassDevelopment will submit the warrant request to the boards of selectmen of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley. The boards of selectmen are required to sign a legal warrant and post that warrant 14 days before the simultaneous special town meetings (so-called Super Town Meeting) scheduled for Monday, June 8.
According to Ron Ricci, newly elected chairman of Harvard’s Board of Selectmen, Harvard selectmen will, immediately upon receipt of the warrant after the May 21 public hearing, convene a public meeting to sign the warrant so that it can be posted in Harvard.
