In preparation for Tuesday’s sparsely attended MassDevelopment hearing at Volunteers Hall of proposed DREZ zoning changes, we went back and reviewed the timeline. In particular, we digested the JBOS Mission Statement crafted in 1992, a year before the Legislature enacted 498 and two years before adoption of the Reuse Plan by the first Super Town Meeting Dec. 7, 1994. We also reviewed the Memorandum of Understanding executed between MassDevelopment and the joint boards Dec. 20, 1994.
The combination of these two documents portrayed a collaborative process of regional planning for Devens reuse, with visionary statements like a quote from a report by the President’s Economic Adjustment Committee, “The ultimate responsibility for determining the final base reuses rests clearly with the community leadership alone.”
In considering the four zoning changes discussed this week, we can understand why Shirley officials want more flexibility in developing the parts of the DREZ located in the village growth district located in the center of their town, and we don’t have a problem with those changes.
Our concern is that once Shirley has gotten everything it wants, what will be its incentive for supporting future changes that may benefit Harvard or Ayer? It would be better if Shirley’s benefits were tied to corresponding improvements for Ayer and Harvard.
We think the most prudent thing is to say no to all changes, until such time as planning has been done on a regional basis, with the active participation of all stakeholders, and the resulting proposals reflect how the towns want Devens to look if and when jurisdiction eventually returns to them.
But in taking this position, it’s important that the town and its leaders finally provide concrete answers to the question asked at Tuesday night’s hearing: What does Harvard want?
