MassDevelopment, the state agency responsible for the commercial and residential development of Devens, signaled last week it is ready to work with the Devens Jurisdiction Framework Committee to increase housing at Vicksburg Square, site of an iconic quadrangle of Army barracks.
In an April 1 email to framework committee Chair Victor Normand, MassDevelopment President Dan Rivera wrote that his agency would welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively with the committee and the towns of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley to ensure that the committee’s recommendations have their intended effect.
“We applaud the Committee … and appreciate that you have requested MassDevelopment’s cooperation and concurrence with the provided language to facilitate consideration at a future super town meeting,” wrote Rivera.
Two months ago, the 11 members of the Devens framework committee present at its Feb. 14 meeting voted unanimously for a draft warrant article that would amend the zoning at Vicksburg Square to permit the construction of up to 400 new rental and for-sale units at the site. The area is currently zoned for innovation and technology, but the buildings have been deserted for years. In a Feb. 16 letter, Normand forwarded the proposal to Rivera and invited MassDevelopment to collaborate with the committee in taking the next step.
The state law that governs the redevelopment of Devens, Chapter 498, requires that any change to zoning be approved by majority votes of the Town Meetings of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley, and that the language of the article presented to voters be approved by MassDevelopment.
In his email, Rivera said it was important that the article specifically cite any amendments or revisions that would need to be made to the Devens bylaws and the Devens Reuse Plan agreed to by the state and towns in 1994, as well as changes to affected area zoning maps. He offered MassDevelopment’s “services and legal review” to help prepare a draft that could be shared with the select boards of the three towns and other stakeholders, and to develop a schedule for the educational campaign and ultimately Super Town Meeting that would be needed to pass it.
Rivera offered one bit of advice. He said that MassDevelopment believed the mix of rental and for-sale units and the affordability requirements presented by the framework committee in its draft article “will make it more difficult for housing developers to propose financially feasible projects.” The agency recommended that the warrant article not dictate a specific mix of rental and for-sale units, nor dictate the types of housing. Instead, he wrote, MassDevelopment recommended that affordability levels be set consistent with Devens zoning regulations for affordable housing.
Marissa Rivera (no relation to Marissa), a Devens resident, founding member of Devens Connect, and an associate member of the Devens framework committee, said in an email to the Press that Dan Rivera’s point about the mix of affordability and housing types was well taken. “I would further say that the types of proposed restrictions he is responding to have had very well-documented exclusionary impacts on many suburban communities in Massachusetts,” she wrote.
But the framework committee’s chair, Victor Normand, took issue with Dan Rivera’s concerns. “We know from past experience that a low-income tax credit, all-rental project is feasible and likely to be the preferred development option,” Normand wrote in response to Press queries. “My view is that with all the legislative authority and financial resources available to MassDevelopment, they should find a way to make a truly mixed-use housing development work at Vicksburg Square.”
Devens Enterprise Commission Director Neil Angus, also responding to Press queries, noted that affordability levels consistent with the reuse plan would require that new housing be 25% low- and moderate-income. How the area should be rezoned will be a key topic of discussion once MassDevelopment reengages in discussions with the Devens framework committee, Angus said. There are several ways it can be done, he added, but any changes will likely require revisions to the text and maps of the reuse plan and bylaws to permit housing as an allowed use in the Vicksburg Square Innovation and Technology Center District.
The initiative to create new housing at Vicksburg Square comes as Gov. Healey’s economic development bill makes its way through the Legislature. Among its provisions is an amendment to Chapter 498 that would eliminate the cap on new housing at Devens, currently set at 282 units. The bill also calls for the secretary of economic development to convene a working group to review opportunities for new housing not only at Vicksburg Square, but elsewhere at Devens. But with the current session of the Legislature set to end July 1, the bill’s prospects are uncertain.
In a brief phone interview, state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, who represents Harvard and the portions of Devens that were historically part of Harvard, advised that the select boards of the three towns should take the initiative and work with MassDevelopment to find consensus.
“The Legislature … will do its own economic development bills. I don’t know what will happen,” he said. “That’s why I do think it’s important for the three towns … to weigh in as soon as is possible.” Eldridge said he was working this week to convene such a meeting with Secretary of Economic Development Yvonne Hao.
Meanwhile, the Devens framework committee was scheduled to meet Wednesday afternoon, April 10, to consider next steps.
