For more than four years, the Harvard-Devens Jurisdiction Committee has been at work on a strategy for resuming jurisdiction of Harvard land at the former Fort Devens Army base, now a major center of economic development. It’s a task that the Select Board assigned to the committee in 2018, and now its nine members will share their preliminary conclusions with the public at an open meeting in the Hildreth Elementary School gym Wednesday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m. Residents of Harvard, Devens, or any of the surrounding towns can also attend via Zoom. (For details, see Notice Board.)
We encourage readers to tune in to the meeting. Although the deadline for determining the future governance of Devens is 2033, it’s not too early to begin thinking about whether and how Harvard could contribute to that future.
We think the jurisdiction committee’s plan contains a number of ideas that are ready for public scrutiny and debate. A core assumption is that the land taken from the three towns to create the base will be returned, but that the entire residential community—all 282 homes authorized under the reuse plan— be made part of Harvard. Current zoning and regulatory bylaws would remain in place, and the Devens Enterprise Commission would continue to provide one-stop permitting for businesses that choose to locate there. MassDevelopment would remain the development authority until land sales were complete. And a new super utility would be organized to provide electricity, gas, water, wastewater treatment, and stormwater services for Devens and adjacent communities.
All nine HDJC committee members will be on stage Wednesday to present their ideas. Nothing is final, but it’s important that town residents—especially Devens residents—hear and critique this early Harvard-centric statement of strategy. As Select Board Chair Rich Maiore said at last month’s All-Boards meeting, town-altering changes such as these need to be fully vetted by the public, and the earlier such discussions begin, the better.
