Planning Board Unanimously Opposes Proposed Bylaw

Last week, Wayland’s Planning Board took the extraordinary step of voting 5:0 to recommend AGAINST a proposed zoning bylaw that if passed by a 2/3 majority at Special Town Meeting on November 1 and 2 would permit the development of a major shopping center/housing complex on the former Raytheon site.

We say “extraordinary” because no single board in Town is more familiar with the proposed bylaw and its implications. This is the bylaw that the Planning Board itself drafted in response to the Board of Selectmen’s stringent deadlines and the developer’s strong-arm demands. The Planning Board has reached the unanimous decision that the bylaw, and the development that it would permit, is bad news for our town.

In a final Planning Board Report: Proposed Mixed-Use Overlay District Zoning Bylaw dated October 7, 2005, (available from Town Planner Joe Laydon), the Planning Board states:

“The maximum sizes allowed conflict with the Town’s desired semi-rural character. The potential is great for introducing problems with traffic, water use, wastewater, and other items. There is a significant risk that the Planning Board will have insufficient power to control these negative impacts and the basic size and character of any proposed development. While crafting the By-Law, the Planning Board relied on the execution of a definitive development agreement to capture important issues that would protect the Town, which were otherwise deferred from the By-Law. The absence of a definitive development agreement exposes the Town to risks that are not sufficiently covered by the By-law alone. Town boards were unduly pressured and the resulting process did not serve the Town’s best interest.”

“Planning Board Recommendation: The Planning Board recommends against the article, by a vote of 5 to 0.”

Development Agreement Fraught with Risks for Town, Loopholes for Developers

Meanwhile, this week the Board of Selectmen (BOS) is slated to finalize the development agreement, a document that is a day late and many dollars short. (Originally, the BOS intended to include the development agreement in the printed Special Town Meeting warrant sent to each Wayland household, but the Board has missed this deadline.) The BOS and its lead negotiator, Selectman Bill Whitney, have been negotiating with the developers for the last few months. Draft 11 of the development agreement (the most current document—even some of the Selectmen are having trouble keeping track of the iterations) is fraught with risks for the town and loopholes for the developer. Consider this:

THE DEVELOPER CAN EASILY EVADE ALMOST ALL OBLIGATIONS:
All that has to happen is that the award of building permits total less than the maximum aggregate limits contained in the bylaw. Wayland ends up with only a paid-for Special Town Meeting and consultant costs related to the rezoning process, while the developer ends up with new zoning and no further obligations to the Town. It gets worse. Section G-1 of draft #11 allows the developer to terminate the agreement if it does not obtain DEP/EPA approval for a wastewater treatment facility with a design of over 100,000 gallons per day. Our current plant is permitted at 65,000 gallons per day. The developer makes millions, the Town gets nothing.

TOWN BOARDS LOSE PERMITTING CONTROL OVER PROJECT:
If any board imposes any local permit condition that the developer finds unacceptable, the developer can avoid paying up to $750,000 to the Town.

Remember the Selectmen and TownCenterYes (developer’s organization) telling the public that we need not worry about the bylaw because Boards will retain total control over the project through the permitting process? Based on the development agreement, it’s simply not so. In addition, Planning Board Chair Larry Stable has told the Selectmen that it is inappropriate to tie monetary payments to the Town in exchange for fast-track permitting approvals (another provision of the development agreement). And if you were led to believe by the Selectmen or the developer that the Planning Board can take action to limit the use of the cut-through to Old Sudbury Road to residential/emergency traffic, you have been misinformed.

TOWN EXPOSED TO MAJOR COST INCREASES:
The development agreement includes no funding to cover increased costs for public safety departments (some other communities have requested substantial annual payments to cover these types of costs). Who will pay for additional police and fire department salaries and benefits? Additional public safety vehicles, equipment, and increased fuel costs resulting from patrolling and responses to public safety incidents? Additional EMT personnel and vehicles? Who will pay for all this? Wayland taxpayers.

But wait, there’s more. There is no annual funding provided for increased inspectional and other burdens placed on the Board of Health. In addition, the town must pay for maintenance of the “town pad,” for its own parking lot on site, for all traffic impact mitigation measures on numerous neighborhood roads affected by this project, for all litigation expenses that will arise out of this project, for the building of sidewalks on Route 20 and elsewhere that would benefit the development, for the pick-up of litter that this project will generate in the surrounding areas, and for wear and tear on our narrow road systems caused by construction and increased traffic.

OTHER FISCAL PROTECTIONS MISSING:
No indemnification clause to protect the Town; no in-lieu-of-taxes payment requirements during construction period; failure to consider any reduction in tax revenues due to grant of a conservation restriction (Town fiscal consultant Judi Barrett’s results are overstated—she was not given this information); no liquidated-damages provision to make the Town “whole” if the developer fails to perform (plowing, site maintenance, improper lighting, other failures); no prohibition on use of town water supply for irrigation; no prohibition on commercial disposal of trash at our already taxed landfill; no provision for sustaining the existing wastewater facility if it breaks down due to increased flow caused by the development.

In short, the development agreement is just that: an agreement that serves the developers. To obtain a copy of the latest draft of the development agreement and confirm the deplorable loopholes firsthand, contact the Board of Selectmen.

With three weeks to go to Special Town Meeting, here are the facts about the proposed project:

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

SIZE: 450,000 square feet (200,000 s.f. shopping center, 210,000 s.f. housing complex with 120 units, 40,000 s.f. for municipal use (developer would lease a lot to town for 99 years for municipal use, but NO funds provided to construct a municipal facility)
This mixed-use complex would be more than one-half the size of Shoppers’ World and could include:
Bylaw will permit:
--48,000 s.f. grocery store (nearly three times the size of Whole Foods)
--30,000 s.f. box stores (same size as Barnes & Noble in Shoppers’ World)
--Chain stores 10,000-20,000 s.f. (Wayland’s Einstein’s Bagel is 2,774 s.f.)

FISCAL RISKS:
Town’s annual net tax gain after multiyear full build-out of project estimated at $445,774 (Town fiscal consultant Sept. 20 report). But Barrett warns key facts requested from developer not provided; public safety and many other costs likely to be higher. Could COST taxpayers money.

TRAFFIC:
Developers estimate 19,000 cars on Saturdays (no Sunday figures provided); 16,300 cars weekdays; traffic seven days a week, not just peak commuter hours Mon. - Fri. Bylaw also permits changing current restricted-use driveway that empties onto Route 27 at the back of the property into a four-lane road, reversing 50 years of deliberate limited use aimed at protecting the residential neighborhoods in the area.

LOCATION:
The project will sit right across from the entrance Russell’s on Route 20. By comparison, since 2000, all 10 major shopping malls (200,000 s.f. and up) built in Massachusetts have been sited less than one mile from major interstates (I-128, 95, 495, and 3). A project of this scale DOES NOT FIT this location.

NO STUDIES on impact on public safety, public health, water supply, neighborhood traffic, and local businesses.

What can you do? Become Informed. Get Involved.
Share Your Concerns with Others. Forward our Blog to your friends (www.waylandcard.blogspot.com) and tell them to contact us at waylandcard@comcast.com for the latest updates.

Attend Special Town Meeting on November 1 and 2 at the High School, and VOTE NO.

WAYLAND’S FUTURE IS IN OUR HANDS. LET’S GET IT RIGHT.

We welcome volunteers. If you could spare an hour or two in the next three weeks, you have the power to make a difference. Contact waylandcard@comcast.net and thanks!