by John Osborn ·
Friday, December 20, 2024
With time running out, municipal and state agencies scrambled this week to name representatives to the working group that will study the feasibility of building more housing in Devens, in an area that includes the iconic quadrangle of abandoned Army barracks known as Vicksburg Square.
Once convened, the committee, a creature of Section 298 of Gov. Maura Healey’s $4 billion economic development bill, has 180 days to recommend to the Legislature whether to build as many as 400 multifamily residential units in the horseshoe-shaped Innovation and Technology Center district that borders Rogers Field, the former parade ground of Fort Devens.
But although the working group—its mission and makeup—has gotten the most attention in recent weeks, another section of the economic development bill, Section 272, could have a far greater impact. That provision does away with the long-standing cap on housing at Devens that limited the total of residential units there to 282.
Lifting the cap frees MassDevelopment, the state agency overseeing the development of Devens, to construct hundreds more single- and multifamily units on the 84 to 90 acres already zoned for residential development. Much of that land is in the vicinity of the Emerson Green development along Grant Road and the rest in an area south of Cavite Street and Adams Circle.
Meg Delorier, MassDevelopment’s interim vice president for Devens, told a meeting of the resident-elected Devens Committee two weeks ago that MassDevelopment had all the authority it needed to build more housing there.
“I think there’s some confusion that needs to be clarified by the two secretariats [of economic development and of housing and livable communities],” she said. “My understanding—and I don’t think I’ll be happy to be proven wrong—is that the working group is going to be focused on Vicksburg Square and the innovation and technology district around Rogers field,” Delorier told the committee. “Those areas that are zoned for residential—that can be developed for residential—will not be part of what the working group is going to be asked to be looking at.”
Delorier said her understanding was that the deliberations of the working group were not intended to stall or prohibit MassDevelopment from moving ahead with residential development in those areas in Devens that are already approved. “I could be proven wrong, but that’s my understanding right now,” said Delorier.
Harvard’s state Sen. Jamie Eldridge concurs with Delorier’s understanding. The housing cap and redevelopment of Vicksburg Square are related but separate issues, he said. “That was the compromise that was reached in the economic development bill,” he told the Press in a phone call earlier this week. “But in order to build any new housing in Devens,” he added, “we now need the new CEO of MassDevelopment [Navjeet Bal] to take action.”
“We passed the law. We worked with the administration. We got the language in,” said Eldridge. However, the next steps—requests for proposals, financing—are up to MassDevelopment and the Devens Enterprise Commission. “I understand that the new CEO has to settle in and get up to speed, but I really hope that she takes quick action subsequent to the changes we made in the law.”
Meanwhile, the administration and stakeholders were preparing to convene the Vicksburg Square-focused working group by Dec. 20—within the 30 days stipulated by Section 298 of the economic development bill. Because the development of housing in that area will affect neighboring towns as well as Devens residents and businesses, and because it also requires the approval of Ayer, Harvard, Shirley, and MassDevelopment, the group includes representatives of six area stakeholders. They are the towns of Ayer, Shirley, and Harvard; MassDevelopment; the Devens Enterprise Commission, the area’s regulatory and permitting authority; and the Devens Committee, a board elected by residents to advise MassDevelopment on its governance and provision of municipal services to the community.
By this past Wednesday, Dec. 18, every participant except MassDevelopment had named its representatives. The three towns chose members of their select boards: SusanMary Redinger for Harvard, Shaun Copeland for Ayer, and Brian Hildebrand for Shirley.
Because the Devens Committee won’t meet until Jan. 8, its chair, Laura Scott, appointed herself “until the full committee can consider the issue.” Devens Enterprise Commission Director Neil Angus will represent the DEC, his appointment ratified by the commissioners at their Dec. 17 meeting.
As of Wednesday, however, MassDevelopment had not named its representative and did not respond to a Press request for comment. Nor did the office of economic development respond to a similar request; a spokesperson, however, said they would be “in touch.”
Ironically, the Devens Framework Committee, a panel that includes every stakeholder in the working group except MassDevelopment, has already taken a position on Vicksburg Square. In a unanimous vote Feb. 14, that committee recommended the innovation and technology district be rezoned for residential development and that up to 400 multifamily units be constructed there by either rehabbing the existing Army buildings in Vicksburg Square or constructing new ones.
The Massachusetts law that governs Devens requires a majority vote of the town meetings of Harvard, Ayer, and Shirley, meeting simultaneously, to approve any zoning change at Devens. MassDevelopment, whose support is also required, has refused to join the framework committee’s initiative. Its membership in the working group, however, is mandatory.
As for MassDevelopment’s next steps regarding the land zoned residential, Delorier promised Devens Committee members at their Dec. 4 meeting that development of those parcels would “not be willy-nilly.” There will be all sorts of proposals for those 80 to 90 available acres, she said. “We’re going to help prescribe what we think is the best and highest use … for those areas.” The job of the working group, she reiterated, “is to look at Vicksburg Square and the Innovation and Technology Center district and hopefully come up with a plan—because Vicksburg Square, from everything that the Legislature heard, was very important to not just the Devens residents, but the surrounding communities.”
In a statement to the Press on Tuesday, Harvard’s state Rep. Dan Sena, who also represents Shirley, Ayer, and Devens, said he looked forward to the recommendations of the working group. “Especially in areas like Vicksburg Square, housing development presents challenges that must be addressed strategically and with an understanding of the needs of the community.To ensure housing development is successful, we must ensure that the plan is equitable and sustainable,” Sena said.