The Planning Board will open a public hearing Monday, March 20, on a proposed bylaw to create a smart growth district on Ayer Road. The bylaw was introduced by landowner Lou Russo as part of Minco Development’s proposal to build a rental apartment complex at 203 Ayer Road, which is now an open lot across from Dunkin’ Donuts and abutting the Harvard Green housing development. Minco’s ability to build the apartments hinges on adoption of the bylaw.
This week, Eric Loth of the North Andover-based Minco told the Press that enacting the bylaw to allow for the 243-unit complex—give or take some units as plans evolve—would fill several local needs. It would address a local and regional need for rentals, fulfill multifamily zoning requirements recently imposed by the state (see sidebar, page 4), and provide some homes for older people who want to downsize. It would also help the town reach or nearly reach the state requirement that 10% of a town’s housing stock be affordable by state standards.
At this week’s Planning Board meeting, as members discussed scheduling hearings for the smart growth overlay district introduced by Russo, they were at pains to separate the smart growth bylaw from the multifamily bylaw the board and town planner Frank O’Connor have been working on to satisfy the MBTA community zoning (see sidebar, page 4). The two overlay districts, said board member Stacia Donahue, were “completely separate,” although she acknowledged that the smart growth district could satisfy multifamily requirements. The multifamily district overlay is not close to ready, although the action plan the town submitted to the state in January says it could be ready by the October 2023 Town Meeting.
Loth, however, emphasized the smart growth bylaw’s compatibility with multifamily requirements. “Harvard is a very residential town,” Loth said, so housing tailored to the MBTA multifamily zoning, which is intended to provide more housing in transportation-accessible areas, is a good fit. But constructing and maintaining fewer than 200 units would be economically impractical, he added.
Loth said that water and sewer for the development would be provided by connecting to Devens if the plan gets to the application stage. According to Neil Angus, environmental planner with the Devens Enterprise Commission—who spoke generally and not on the topic of this bylaw or its associated development—Devens is set up to support the surrounding towns with some utilities under certain circumstances. MassDevelopment manages the water systems and is the point of contact for permission.
Town Meeting’s February vote to connect town center’s water to Devens for PFAS treatment is unrelated to water and sewer plans at 203 Ayer Road.
Introducing a sewer line to any part of Ayer Road should be a carefully considered decision to be examined from all angles, warned resident and former Harvard town administrator Paul Cohen. “A sewer line to Devens is transformational,” he said, and could “kick off development of no return,” especially if one landowner with rights acquires additional, adjoining land.
Instructions for meeting participation will be listed on the town’s website 48 hours before the 8 p.m. meeting at www.harvard.ma.us. Click first on “Calendars,” and select March 20 on the public meetings calendar. Click on “Planning Board.” The Zoom link will be listed on the agenda.
What to know about 203 Ayer Road
- An application for a special permit (under Ayer Road Village zoning) at this site has been under review since last spring by the Planning Board. It is for two 8,000-square-foot mixed-use buildings and a 30,000-square-foot badminton gym. Whether the two mixed-use buildings would remain if the apartment buildings were also approved for this site is unknown; a conceptual drawing of the apartment complex shown early this month by Minco includes the gym, but not the two mixed-use buildings.
- The Minco proposal envisions 235 rental apartments in three apartment buildings, with four rental or possibly ownership duplexes (eight units) also on site. Total number of dwellings: 243. Of that, 22 apartments will be affordable and one building of 30 apartments reserved for older people.
- The Minco proposal cannot be built unless new zoning, a smart growth overlay district, is enacted by a majority (not two-thirds) vote of Town Meeting.* According to the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance, 28 communities are building smart growth projects; the nearest are developments in Maynard and Concord.
- Minco Development executive Eric Loth told the Press this week that his company would like the new bylaw to be voted on at the town’s April 29 Town Meeting.
- The developer and landowner have stated that water and sewer connections to Devens would supply the buildings at the site. Permission is negotiated through MassDevelopment with the Devens Utilities Department.
- The smart growth bylaw was written by an attorney at Beveridge & Diamond to align with the state’s new regulations for multifamily zoning (see MBTA sidebar), Loth said. As proposed, the development would fulfill Harvard’s multifamily requirements. But the Planning Board will still work separately on its own multifamily zoning bylaw. “We are dealing with [each bylaw] in isolation,” Planning Board Chair Richard Cabelus said this week.
- All apartments in the complex would rent at market rate except for 21 or 22 apartments in the 85-unit building. Those would be affordable to people earning no more than 80% of the area median income. However, all 85 units would count on Harvard’s subsidized housing inventory, bringing the town from 5.8% to 9 or 10%. (The latest figures needed for calculating the percentage will be available in May, according to the state agency that handles them.) This development, however, is not proposed under Chapter 40B, the state’s affordable housing law.
- The Planning Board must produce a report with recommendations about the smart growth district after hearings close; however, the Select Board ultimately determines what goes on a Town Meeting warrant.
- The development proposal is not the same as an application to build; Minco would presumably submit an application to the Planning Board if Town Meeting were to pass the enabling bylaw. Public hearings on applications for site plan review would require details on infrastructure, traffic, environmental impact, and so on.
- Chapter 358 of the Acts of 2020 amended the Zoning Act to allow a simple majority instead of a supermajority for bylaws encouraging multifamily housing and otherwise contributing to the state’s economic and housing goals.
What to know about MBTA multifamily zoning
- As a community adjacent to MBTA stations in Ayer and Littleton, Harvard must create at least one zoning district in which multifamily housing is allowed as of right. The state requires that such a district in Harvard allow for at least 113 multifamily units at a density of 15 units per acre. Age restrictions are not allowed; affordability is not required.
- The zoning must be “as of right,” which means the Planning Board grants permission through site plan approval, not through special permits. The board’s ability to consider conditions and all aspects of the construction is extensive for both permits and reviews. The difference is in the bar set for denial. Because a by-right use is an expected use in a district, as, for example, the apartments would be in a smart growth district, denial is possible only for outright violation of the bylaw.
- The Planning Board has not yet decided on the districts it intends to propose for Harvard’s required multifamily zoning. However, over several meetings, draft maps have been discussed that show one district of three parcels in the area of 203 Ayer Road and another district near Cisco Systems, bordering Boxborough.
- The multifamily zoning must be enacted by December 2025. The penalty for not enacting the zoning is losing access to some state grant money, including the MassWorks Infrastructure program, which has funded roadwork in town several times in the past. There is no penalty as such if the multifamily units are not built—it is left to the marketplace and infrastructure to determine that.
- Previously built multifamily housing does not automatically count toward the town’s 113-unit requirement. However, Planning Board member Stacia Donahue explains that if the town enacts multifamily zones encompassing previously existing homes, some could count toward the desired number. Donahue said the board is mindful of the new law’s intention to create more housing opportunities and will work with the state in that spirit.
- Towns lacking water and sewer to support the required density are not required to install that infrastructure.
