Corrected and updated March 8, 2024
The $3.5 billion economic development bond bill sent to the Legislature by Gov. Maura Healey last Friday includes provisions that, if passed, would clear the way for more housing to be built in Devens without a vote of the three towns on whose historical land it would be located.
The sweeping legislation, named the Mass Leads Act, aims to strengthen Massachusetts’ leadership in life sciences while launching new investments in climate technology and applied artificial intelligence. But buried within the 83-page document are two sections that apply specifically to the Devens Regional Enterprise Zone.
One section (Section 146) of the legislation removes any limit on the number of units of housing or square feet of commercial and industrial space that can be developed at Devens. A second (Section 147) calls on the secretary of economic development and the secretary of housing and livable communities to convene a working group consisting of representatives from the towns of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley; MassDevelopment, the state agency overseeing the development of Devens; and the elected Devens Committee, which represents residents, to plan for more housing in Devens—including, but not limited to, the feasibility of allowing up to 400 multifamily residential units in Vicksburg Square.
The two measures surprised local officials. According to a spokesperson for state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who represents Harvard and Ayer, the senator was warned that housing at Devens would be addressed in the Mass Leads bill only the day before it was filed. The advice came from an aide to the secretary of economic development, Yvonne Hao. Eldridge forwarded the news to officials in Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley. Neil Angus, director of the Devens Enterprise Commission, told the Press he had no advance warning. Harvard’s DEC representatives Carl Sciple and Duncan Chapman confirmed there had been no mention of the bill in any public communication. MassDevelopment did not respond to queries regarding its involvement or notification.
Vicksburg warrant in limbo
The measures in the governor’s bill raise a variety of issues, some of which were discussed at Monday’s meeting of the Harvard-Devens Jurisdiction Committee.
What, for example, will be the fate of the proposed Super Town Meeting warrant to rezone Vicksburg Square for housing and permit the development of up to 400 units there for rent or purchase? MassDevelopment, whose participation is essential, has yet to respond to the proposal, which the Devens framework committee approved unanimously and forwarded to agency officials three weeks ago. Opinion on the committee was divided on whether the state will get behind the proposal. “Why else would they mention the site in the legislation?” asked member Don Ludwig. “Perhaps they think it will fail,” said John McCormack, a member of the Harvard-Devens committee. “They’re willing to have a super town meeting so that [they] can prove that a super town meeting doesn’t work.”
Other sites available
Could it be that the state and MassDevelopment aren’t interested in Vicksburg Square at all and have their eyes on other parcels, some committee members wondered.
In an email to the Press on Monday, DEC Director Angus reported that approximately 80 undeveloped acres are zoned residential at Devens. They are mostly in the Grant Road neighborhood, the site of the Emerson Green neighborhood, and the Adams Circle area (across from Auman and Bates streets), labeled as #6 and #10 on the Devens zoning map. (Go to www.devensec.com, “Devens Maps” and then “Devens Zoning Districts.”)
He said there were also “a few other small infill parcels” in the neighborhods of Elm, Walnut, Auman, and Bates streets.
Angus said he thought there could be some parcels currently zoned for innovation and technology uses closer to existing residential areas that might be appropriate for additional housing. “But this needs to be evaluated in the context of the immediate and surrounding land uses and Devens redevelopment as a whole.”
Who will educate the children?
Harvard-Devens committee members were also concerned that the question of who will educate the children of new residents is not being considered. Earlier in their Monday meeting, the committee heard a report by Paul Green summarizing the impact on area schools that a doubling or tripling of housing at Devens could have. The committee voted unanimously to send Green’s finding to the Devens Education Advisory Committee as well as Harvard and Ayer Shirley Regional school administrators. The report will be the subject of a future article in the Press.
A commitment ignored?
Perhaps the greatest concern of all is that the state intends to take housing into its own hands and bypass super town meetings as the means of expanding the number of units at Devens. As recently as last July, MassDevelopment CEO Dan Rivera promised at a public meeting of the Harvard Select Board that he would not do that. His statement was never memorialized in writing, however.
In a so-called super town meeting, the town meetings of Ayer, Shirley, and Harvard meet separately and simultaneously to debate and vote on changes to the Devens bylaws. Within the past 10 years, MassDevelopment has used a super town meeting twice to alter zoning at Devens. In 2015, the three towns approved construction of 62 units of senior housing on state land in Shirley. And in 2016 the three towns approved a zoning change that has led to the construction of the Commonwealth Fusion campus on Hospital Road.
“I think you need to jump on this,” said committee member SusanMary Redinger, who urged it be taken up by the Select Board. “You can’t let this go without a response. Where are our legislators that are supposed to be … fighting for the towns?” The state was proposing to bypass a law within which the towns had worked for more than 30 years, she said. “It’s not OK.”
The 282-unit housing cap was agreed to by the Legislature and towns in 1993 when Devens was created. Although state Sen. John Cronin, who represents Shirley, introduced legislation last year to eliminate the cap, the effort failed and the cap remained in place. Two years ago, the select boards of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley agreed to support legislation that would allow up to 12 million square feet of industrial and commercial space to be developed. The Legislature, without the approval of the towns, later raised the cap still further, allowing an additional 12 million square feet. That’s more than the Devens Enterprise Commission, the region’s permitting agency, says is available. The amount of development permitted at Devens is limited ultimately by a dozen environmental metrics, such as water usage and square feet of paving, overseen by the Department of Environmental Protection.
In spite of eliminating both the housing and commercial development caps, Section 146 of the Mass Leads bill promises that the bylaws regulating housing in Devens and governing the permitting of projects by the Devens Enterprise Commission are not to be modified.
In a statement provided to the Press, a spokesperson for Hao sought to reassure local officals and Devens residents.
“The Healey-Driscoll administration recognizes that a strong state and local partnership is necessary for creating a strong future for Devens, and we are committed to ensuring that any development in the community considers local and regional interests,” it stated. “The Mass Leads Act proposes eliminating the housing cap so that housing production is guided by zoning bylaws and the permitting of individual projects—just like in every one of our 351 cities and towns. The proposed working group will include local officials from all three surrounding communities, as well as members of the Devens Committee, that will strategize around future development at Devens and discuss innovative ways to address our state’s housing crisis together.”
The bill, however, makes no mention of putting the question before a super town meeting and no mention of the Devens Jurisdiction Framework Committee, which already includes officals from the three towns, as well as representatives from the DEC and the residents and businesses at Devens who have been studying the future governance of Devens for years.
Disposition redux
For Victor Normand, who chairs the Harvard-Devens committee and co-chairs the multi-stakeholder Devens framework committee, housing can no longer be separated from the question of future jurisdiction and rights of the residents who live there. Chapter 498 makes Devens residents citizens of the towns on whose historical land they reside with the right to vote in town elections. But they have no say in their own governance. “For the residents and tenants there’s no town meeting for them to go to and object to a zoning change. If you triple or quadruple the population at Devens without dealing with disposition, you end up with people who don’t have a vote in their own community, but get to vote in a community they don’t live in. It’s absolutely absurd.”
Normand said he thought the towns should bypass MassDevelopment and bring the issue directly to the Healey administration. “We need to deal with disposition before any new residents move into Vicksburg Square or move into Devens.” Residents have a right to know what town they live in, he said.
Blindsided
State Sen. Eldridge told the Press Friday he was feeling “blindsided.” Although he has had discussions and meetings recently with the governor’s housing and economic development secretaries, and with MassDevelopment CEO Rivera, he had no idea the governor was considering legislation to remove the cap, he said. Leaders of the three towns and the Devens framework committee had shown leadership by voting unanimously for housing at Vicksburg Square and asking MassDevelopment to collaborate in making it happen. “I would respectfully submit that this proposal by the administration is not a dialogue but a monologue.”
A spokesperson for Cronin provided the following statement: “Senator Cronin has not reviewed the Governor’s bill’s language yet but looks forward to continued engagement with stakeholders across the region to build much-needed housing in North Central Massachusetts.”
The filing of the bill is only the first step in its becoming law, an aide to Eldridge told the Press. Next stop is the House of Representatives where the Ways and Means Committee will get a chance to redraft it, after which it will move to the floor where members can offer amendments. Then it’s off to the Senate where the same will happen. Once the Senate passes its version, both versions will head to a conference committee to iron out any differences before it is sent to Healey’s desk, where she can sign it, or send back parts she doesn’t like. If the working group language survives, he said, the working group would need to convene within 30 days of the day after Healey signs it into law. “So the race to the end of formal sessions is on,” he said.
The Devens Committee, an elected group that represents Devens residents, was scheduled to meet Wednesday night, March 6. The Devens Jurisdiction Framework Committee meets next on March 13, where discussion is likely to continue.
Editor's note: This article has been corrected and updated. John McCormack is a member of the Harvard-Devens committee, but not a Devens resident. Another correction was to reference the Devens Committee instead of the Devens Commission.
