The Planning Board’s four proposed zoning articles met with mixed results on the floor of Special Town Meeting. Article 19, which requires Harvard properties to rely exclusively on Harvard water sources for fire safety, narrowly passed after some debate. Article 21, which would have made the Ayer Road Village Special Permit more permissive, did not pass. Articles 22 and 20, increasing the allowed uses in the commercial district and updating the bylaw’s definitions section, passed after being amended on the floor.
Former Planning Board member Michelle Catalina and Select Board member Kara Minar both objected to a provision of Article 21, which would have allowed the Planning Board to waive regular site standards for developments using the Ayer Road Village Special Permit. According to Catalina, “If they [developers] have a good lawyer and we allow waiving, that’s going to be very bad.” The Planning Board accepted a friendly amendment proposed by Minar to remove this provision from the bylaw.
Town Planner Chris Ryan caucuses with Planning Board members before they accept a friendly amendment to Article 19. (Photo by Tim Clark)
After the Planning Board made this concession, Director of Community and Economic Development Chris Ryan explained how Article 21 was integral to the Planning Board’s intention of encouraging village-style commercial development with walkable clusters of activity rather than sprawl. Most citizens expressed support for the village concept in general, but still objected to Article 21. The most cited concern was that any increased development without first improving the road itself would result in increased traffic on already congested Ayer Road. The article failed to pass by the required two-thirds majority, though the vote was close.
During the discussion of Article 22, Minar drew attention to a section of the bylaw prohibiting “mechanical or live entertainment” in restaurants. The prohibition on these entertainment types was not a new requirement added in Article 22, but part of the existing bylaw. Following an inconclusive discussion about the meaning of the phrase “mechanical entertainment” and the potential for noise nuisance, the Planning Board accepted a friendly amendment by Bruce Nickerson of Stow Road to allow both types of entertainment in restaurants. Article 22 passed by a wide margin.
Voting on Article 20 was postponed until after Articles 21 and 22, as it included the definitions of new phrases contained in 21 and 22. Because Article 21 did not pass, Article 20 was amended to leave out the definition of “smart growth,” which appeared only in Article 21. This article passed by a wide margin.
Although three of the four proposed bylaws passed, the failed Article 21 was most central to the Planning Board’s long-term plans to revamp the commercial zoning along Ayer Road. Though disappointing to board members, this was not unexpected, as Article 21 had already drawn opposition at outreach hearings and had previously been scaled back in response to criticism.
