Ayer Road report envisions mixed-use projects to discourage sprawl

Harvard’s Ayer Road commercial zone is best suited for small-scale, mixed-use developments connected by walking paths, with each development compact enough to retain some open space. The existing zoning bylaw, however, encourages suburban sprawl.

So says a recently completed, 300-plus-page report by Weitzman Associates, the New York- and Chicago-based consulting firm hired by the Planning Board last summer to determine how to facilitate development in the commercial district that suits the needs and character of Harvard. The commercial area runs from the Route 2 interchange to the Ayer town line and consists mainly of office space.

The report is the first part of a proposed three-part project. The just-completed phase 1 report analyzes the market and fiscal impact of development and recommends development options meant to blend with the town’s character and create some tax revenue. Phase 2 would get input from citizens to create a “vision plan” for the commercial corridor. The third and most expensive part of the project would rewrite the commercial zoning bylaw to facilitate desired styles and uses.

The study will be paid for with a $250,000 grant from the state’s Rural and Small Town Development Fund, according to Harvard’s planner, Frank O’Connor; $45,000 has been spent on phase 1. The remaining money must be used to complete phases 2 and 3 by the summer of 2024. The Planning Board is in charge of hiring the consultants and supervising their work.

Three mixed-use scenarios

The report recommends that each eligible parcel on Ayer Road be developed as a mixed-use project according to one of three levels of intensity. (See "Excerpts from the report" below for a description of the three proposed levels of development per parcel.) The mixed-use recommendation means new development projects in the commercial area should include both a residential and a commercial component. The residential component recommended for each mixed-use development is for multifamily or clustered housing—not traditional single family homes—and ranges from six to 30 to 50 residential units per each mixed-use development. Affordable and senior dwellings should also be included. Both rental and ownership dwellings are marketable, the report says, estimating that based on regional demand, four to six units per month could be sold. So-called absorption rates for rentals are estimated at five to seven units per month.

Only the least intensive scenario—for six residential units and 12,000 to 15,000 square feet of commercial space—would be possible without town water and sewer or privately built and maintained, often expensive, water and septic systems. Consultant Marie-Danielle Faucher, the report’s primary researcher and a senior vice president at Weitzman, told the Planning Board at its Jan. 9 meeting that she could not be “exactly sure what the threshold would be” for triggering the addition of town water and sewer. And it would depend on the developer, she said, as to whether any particular project requiring large-scale, privately built systems was economically feasible.

Diversified housing, ecotourism,and the fiscal impact of development

The report says the residential part of the mixed-use developments—whether for rental or sale—should include “townhomes, clustered cottage development, and low-density condominium projects” to diversify Harvard’s housing stock, which is 93% single-family. The rental market, the report notes, is a “neglected market” in town. The need for a wider choice in housing shows in the demographics in which the fastest growing populations in Harvard are older people (64 and older) and young adults (25 to 34).

The potential for a more thoughtfully developed commercial corridor is there, the report says. Ayer Road still has several vacant or underdeveloped parcels that could accommodate “many small scale, walkable, and village-like mixed-use commercial and residential developments.” It does not identify specific properties, though. Citing the town’s “picturesque character,” “exceptional preservation” of open space, and agricultural activity, the report urges the town to cultivate businesses related to ecotourism and agribusiness. “The potential is there, and the threat is there,” said Faucher, referring to the report’s assertion that the town’s commercial zoning is “deficient” and “conducive to unintended uses such as recent development inquiries for self-storage facilities, auto repair uses, warehousing, and multifamily complexes in excess of 200 units and with no commercial component.”

The tax revenues to the town for each of the three recommended mixed-use developments are derived largely from property tax as opposed to fees and vehicle excise tax. Revenue is estimated at $100,000 to $147,000 for the smallest scheme; $276,000 to $532,000 for the next largest scenario; and $533,000 to $930,000 for the largest development. The ranges in revenue are based on the share of affordable housing in each development.

The cost of development, from school enrollment to human services—and based on the relatively modest size of the recommended number of housing units—is in each case estimated as “minimal.” However, costs for providing water and sewer are not included. The report also notes that the potential fiscal benefit of development would require “the deduction from our estimates of the current taxes on vacant land or of taxes on underimproved properties” if existing buildings were rehabilitated or demolished. The report contains tables detailing projected tax revenues, valuations, and assumptions upon which the estimates are based.

Although funding has been secured, the Planning Board must still initiate phases 2 and 3 to complete the study. “It’s the board’s task to keep the ball rolling,” said member Doug Thornton after Faucher had presented highlights of the report to the board. Chair Richard Cabelus agreed, vowing to “move forward with diligent speed.”

To read the report, go to harvard-ma.gov/planning-board and in the list of documents on the left side of the screen, click on “Harvard Market Study and Fiscal Impact Analysis.”