by John Osborn ·
Friday, April 24, 2026
A sweeping economic development bill filed by Gov. Maura Healey last week would replace the Devens Super Town Meeting with a single regional vote convened by MassDevelopment, the state agency that manages the former Army base.
Under current law, substantial amendments to the Devens Reuse Plan and zoning bylaws require approval by a majority vote of the Town Meetings of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley, convening separately on the same date and time. Healey’s bill would replace that procedure with a single meeting convened by MassDevelopment at one location in or near Devens.
Any voter registered in one of the three towns, including Devens residents, would be eligible to vote at that meeting. Because Devens is not an independent municipality, its approximately 950 residents register to vote in the town whose historical boundaries encompass their address. The bill directs the clerks of Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley to verify the registration status of attendees, with MassDevelopment covering those costs.
The bill gives MassDevelopment sole authority to propose “substantial amendments” to the Devens Reuse Plan or zoning bylaws—a term used in the bill but not defined. Before any vote, MassDevelopment would be required to hold at least two public hearings, with notice published in a local newspaper at least 14 days in advance. Within 30 days of the last hearing, MassDevelopment would convene the single meeting. A quorum of 50 voters would suffice, and a simple majority of those present could approve any proposal. Attendees would have no ability to amend proposals from the floor—only an up-or-down vote would be permitted. If approved, an amendment would take effect immediately. The new process would govern any substantial amendment proposed on or after Jan. 1, 2027.
The Devens provision is part of the Mass Wins Act, a broad economic development package the Healey administration filed as HD 6046. The bill proposes $305 million in capital authorizations, and it rests on five pillars: elevating the state’s global economic standing; lowering costs for businesses and residents; attracting and retaining talent; strengthening economic competitiveness; and expanding equity and opportunity statewide. The Devens zoning provision falls under that last pillar, which the administration calls “OneMA.”
“Massachusetts has always competed on the strength of our people, our ideas and our willingness to lead,” Healey said in a statement released with the bill. “We’re taking decisive steps to strengthen our competitiveness, invest in cutting-edge sectors of our innovation economy like applied AI and quantum, and create more jobs across the state.”
The Devens measure is one of several provisions grouped under OneMA, which also includes $25 million for downtown and community revitalization, measures to ease workforce entry for internationally trained nurses and engineers, and $25 million to support innovative creativity throughout the state’s economy. The administration’s summary of the bill describes the Devens measure as replacing “the current ‘super town meeting’ structure with a single meeting held at Devens, while maintaining democratic participation from all three neighboring communities.”
Just days before the April 15 filing, Navjeet Bal, MassDevelopment’s president and CEO, contacted select board officials in all three towns. According to Ayer Select Board Chair Jannice Livingston, Bal told her the impetus for the change came from Devens businesses and residents who question why the three towns have a role in super town meeting decisions. Livingston said Bal described the proposal as an effort to update a process that is now 30 years old and said the Devens Community Center could accommodate about 400 people for such a meeting, with a tent as a weather-permitting option.
In an email to the Press Wednesday, Kelsey Schiller, a spokesperson for MassDevelopment, said that currently, even routine amendments to the Devens bylaws require the simultaneous approval by voters in Ayer, Harvard, and Shirley. “This means that each town holds veto power over any potential change to the Devens bylaws, even if such a change is overwhelmingly adopted by a large majority of the residents of Devens and the other towns.”
“The proposed modifications,” she wrote, “would continue to allow residents from the surrounding communities to participate in the decision-making process, while allowing for a more efficient and streamlined predictable process for Devens by-law updates.”
The proposal comes on the heels of a state-mandated study of housing possibilities at Devens. The Devens Housing Working Group, created by the Legislature in 2024, spent five months examining options for adding housing in the Innovation and Technology Center zoning district, a roughly 90-acre area that includes the historic buildings at Vicksburg Square, where commercial uses are currently allowed but housing is not. The working group approved its final report unanimously in May 2025. It recommended that the technology district be rezoned to allow residential use—cottage homes, duplexes, townhomes, and apartments—with up to 400 multifamily units.
The report stopped short of recommending how any zoning change should be approved, noting only that two paths existed: a super town meeting, or a special act of the Legislature. The Healey administration has chosen legislation—but rather than bypass the towns entirely, the Mass Wins bill restructures how the vote is conducted. The pool of eligible voters stays the same: residents registered in Ayer, Harvard, or Shirley. What would change is the venue, the convener, and the rules. Under the bill, MassDevelopment—not the towns’ moderators—would run the meeting, set the agenda, and present proposed changes. No floor amendments would be permitted.
The timing is notable: The Housing Working Group called for studies and community engagement before any vote to rezone the technology district, but none of those steps has been completed, and the school needs study has yet to begin. If the bill passes, the new process could be in place before MassDevelopment is ready to present a plan to the towns and Devens community.
Victor Normand, Harvard’s representative on the Devens Jurisdictional Framework Committee and chair of the town’s Harvard-Devens Jurisdiction Committee, questioned why the proposal had been filed without broader consultation with the towns. “If there is some merit to the proposed change, why not have an open discussion before submitting it to the Legislature?” he wrote.
Kara Minar, chair of the Harvard Select Board, called the proposal “an end-run around Chapter 498.” She said the measure “raises serious questions under established Massachusetts zoning law principles, which reserve zoning authority to municipalities acting through duly-voted local processes.” Minar also raised concerns about the mechanics of the proposed meeting. “The voting process being proposed is notably burdensome and may have the practical effect of discouraging resident engagement in zoning decisions,” she wrote. “We are currently evaluating appropriate next steps and consulting with our counterparts and stakeholders in Ayer and Shirley.”
Laura Scott, chair of the elected Devens Committee, which represents Devens residents in an advisory capacity, offered a more positive assessment—though she said the committee had not yet taken an official position. “I think the proposal to simplify the town meeting process is a practical step if the goal is to reach clear, actionable decisions,” she wrote. “As it stands, the process can make it difficult to move from discussion to outcome.”
Scott also said she was encouraged by the bill’s explicit inclusion of Devens residents as eligible voters. “That detail suggests the state recognizes the importance of ensuring residents have a meaningful role in decision-making,” she wrote. “Overall, this feels like a constructive move toward a more effective and inclusive process.”
Meanwhile, the measure is moving forward. On Tuesday, April 22, the bill was referred to the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies. So far, no member of the delegation representing the three towns and Devens has responded to requests for comment.