Important Meetings:
Monday, Sept. 26, Board of Selectmen meeting; extended public comment period on developer agreement that BOS is negotiating with developer of former Raytheon site. Unfortunately, BOS is asking public to comment on an agreement that has not been drafted and is not available for public review; meeting to be held at Town Building at 7:25pm with half hour allowed for public comment. The Finance Committee and Road Commissioners also are meeting on this date at Town Building to discuss development issues.

Tuesday, Sept. 27, Board of Selectmen, Board of Road Commissioners, and Bow Road residents are holding a public meeting to discuss traffic measures on Bow Road to mitigate impact of proposed shopping mall/housing complex. Police Chief Irving has encouraged residents of the many other roads affected by the proposed development to attend this public meeting at 7:30pm in Town Building. (The zoning bylaw is available through the Planning Board’s Web site; click on top item in the right-hand column entitled “NEW: The Planning Board submitted the MUOD [Mixed Use Overlay Development] Warrant.”

Thursday, Sept. 29, Planning Board, public forum on Mixed-Use Overlay District (MUOD) Zoning Bylaw that if approved by two-thirds majority of voters at a Special Town Meeting Nov. 1 and 2, would green light the developer moving forward with plans to create a large shopping mall (200,000 square feet) and residential complex (210,000 square feet) consisting of 120 units. Also includes 20,000 square foot “pad” for a 40,000 square foot municipal use; meeting in Town Building’s large hearing room, at 7:30pm. Current zoning bylaw includes access road onto Rte 27.

FIVE WEEKS TO SPECIAL TOWN MEETING...
WAYLAND’S FUTURE IS IN YOUR HANDS

In a little more than a month, voters will decide Wayland’s future. Do we want a large shopping center/housing complex that totals more than half the size of Shoppers World and whose scale and scope does not comply with the Town’s Master Plan? Do we want to add many thousands of shoppers from surrounding towns clogging our main and secondary roads seven days a week, versus the commuter peak hours Monday through Friday that a commercial re-use would generate? Is there enough water to accommodate this mixed-use development, and do we have the wastewater capacity to meet the needs of this development and the needs of our town and residents?

Here’s what we know:
SIZE: 450,000 square feet (200,000 square foot shopping mall, 210,000 square foot housing complex with 120 units, 40,000 square foot municipal use)
This mixed-use development would include:
--53,000 s.f. grocery store (more than 25% larger than Sudbury Farms)
--30,000 s.f. box store (developer cited Orvis as possible tenant)
--four junior anchor stores at 20,000 s.f. each
--15,000 s.f. drive-through drug store
--numerous stores 10,000 s.f. or more in size
(For reference, Puopolo’s in Weston is 2,600 s.f.; entire Omni strip in Weston is 30,000 s.f.)

CHARACTER: Shopping mall, not New England “town center.” Does not comply with Wayland Master Plan.

FISCAL: Town’s net tax gain after build-out estimated at $445,774 annually (Town fiscal consultant Judi Barrett’s Sept. 20 report), but Barrett warns key facts missing from developer; public safety costs likely to be higher. This has already proved true. Monday, September 19, at the BOS meeting, Board of Health member Connie Bean complained that her board had not been consulted, and that if the project goes forward, the town will need to hire another health inspector to accommodate the restaurants. (See Project Update below.) How does this compare against the net revenue the town would earn if the property were to remain commercially zoned with a commercial tenant (the developer has repeated said their are potential tenants interested)? What will the fiscal impact be during the construction phase-in, which will last years? (No fiscal analysis done due to lack of info from developer.) These questions need to be answered.

LOCATION: Route 20 across from Russell’s. By comparison, since 2000 all 10 major shopping malls (200,000 s.f. and up) built in Massachusetts have been located less than one mile from major interstates (Rtes 128, 95, 495, and 3).

TRAFFIC: Developer’s own traffic study says mall will generate 19,000 car trips on Saturdays (Sunday, big shopping day, data not supplied by developer); 16,300 trips on weekdays. Bottom line: lots of traffic all the time, not just commuting hours.

NO STUDIES on impact on local businesses, public safety, neighborhood roads.

WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT'S CAPACITY will be maxed out. Although developer is offering town a 20,000 s.f. pad for a municipal use of 40,000 s.f., it’s a dry offer, with no wastewater allotment. In other words, no water to flush a toilet. See Project Update below.

Weekly Project Update:
At last week’s Board of Selectmen meeting, 9/19, Board of Health member Connie Bean expressed concern that her board had not been consulted, and noted that if the shopping mall with its many restaurants were to be developed, the Health Department would need to hire another health inspector. One MORE item not factored in to the assessment of the fiscal impact of this development on the Town’s bottom line.

Several citizens living on Rte 27 currently hooked up to the Town’s wastewater treatment plant expressed concerns about inadequate safeguards to ensuring the town’s water and wastewater needs are sufficiently protected in the negotiations.

The Board of Selectmen then met with developer Chuck Irving of KGI. Irving surprised meeting attendees, including a Planning Board member, with his announcement that he planned to eliminate retail/service use of access road onto Rte 27, limiting the road’s use to residential and emergency access. This after his partner, Dean Stratouly (Congress Group), threatened to walk away from the project if the Planning Board acceded to citizens’ wishes that the road be eliminated except for public safety use. Will the developer agree to an amendment to the zoning bylaw that gives control of this road back to the Town? Stay tuned.

The BOS and developer have repeatedly discussed a lump sum $3 million payment to the town, but Irving stressed that all costs, including payment in lieu of taxes during the build-out phase, sidewalks, burying overhead wires, would have to come out of that sum. What about the need for additional police officers and cruisers? Additional firemen and fire equipment? Additional EMT vehicles and staff? Additional health inspectors? Given the town’s financially strapped position, what good will a municipal pad be when there is no money to build anything on it. FYI, the Library Committee presented a feasibility plan to the Planning Board the next evening that included an estimate of $11 million to build a new library, with a 5% annual inflation factor added. How far will this $3 million go? This project could easily end up costing Waylanders money at the end of the day.

Water and wastewater capacity remain a fluid issue. Irving offered to pay up to $3 million for a new wastewater treatment plant with the proviso that extra capacity be requested. The first 3,000 gallons of that extra capacity, Irving said, would go to the municipal pad. But what if that request is denied, and what if the plant costs more than $3 million, both very real prospects. Irving said the development needed to retain all 45,000 gallons of wastewater capacity for itself (no water for municipal pad), and he would not agree to pay the cost of the plant beyond $3 million.

At a follow-up Board of Selectmen meeting on Thursday, Sept. 22, the conversations, and questions, continued. Site contamination issues remain a concern. The BOS has had no discussions with Raytheon, which controls deed restrictions to the property (those restrictions include no occupancy involving children on a significant portion of the site) about the potential impact of contamination uncovered during the development’s construction.

Among many other concerns was solid waste disposal. The housing units proposed by the developer will use our Town Landfill, and there is a possibility that the commercial/retail users will do so as well, based on remarks by the BOS. The impact of this has not been assessed, but it will surely reduce the useful life of this town resource, and shift more costs to landfill users and taxpayers.

What can you do? Stay Informed. Become Involved. Share this info with a neighbor.

Visit us again. And mark your calendar for Tuesday, November 1, and Wednesday, November 2 for Special Town Meeting. Wayland’s future is in your hands.