Five Questions, Answers about Rte. 20 Housing Article

Article 21 of Wayland's Annual Town Meeting Warrant asks voters to "appropriate CPA and other funds for due diligence efforts for the pre-permitting and potential sale of town-owned land on Boston Post Road."

Wednesday night, members of the Economic Development Committee, who proposed the article, welcomed residents to a public hearing to discuss the articles pros and cons and answer questions.

The EDC has presented the idea of selling the land of the town's old septage site to a developer for construction of a multi-family rental facility geared toward senior housing.

Here are five things you missed during that hearing:

1. Resident Roger Backman asked whether the proposed site wasn't better used as the location for a new Department of Public Works facility, which is being proposed for a site on River Road. Backman said he couldn't see himself living there since it borders a capped landfill and is located along a busy (and potentially noisy) road.

EDC member Sam Potter acknowledged that the location isn't "the Back Bay," but "We [the EDC] think the benefits outweigh the drawbacks."

He also explained that the land in question is currently under the control of Wayland's DPW. Potter said DPW was unlikely to offer the Route 20 land for this project, unless another article in the Warrant passes designating land on River Road for the new DPW facility.

Additionally, Potter explained, Weston & Sampson named the River Road site as the most appropriate for a new DPW facility.

2. The article requests $360,000 for a study and "due diligence" of the Route 20 site. The due diligence, EDC chair Becky Matson Stanizzi explained, would make the land more valuable to potential developers since all the pre-building process will have been completed in advance. In addition, pre-permitting allows the town to maintain some control over what will be built on the site.

Residents at the hearing, however, wondered whether $360,000 wasn't too much to allocate without even knowing whether the site is viable for housing.

Potter assured attendees that if the early site study reveals problems with the land, the additional money to move forward will not be spent.

3. Resident Beth Butler asked whether Wayland's police and fire chiefs had weighed in on the possibility of additional traffic and access to the multi-family rental project under discussion.

Potter explained that, while both chiefs would be consulted as the plan moved forward, the plans are not yet to the point of consulting the two of them. At this time, the EDC is simply requesting the funds to continue planning -- not to actually sell the land or build anything on the site.

4. While the project has not yet advanced to the point of having a site plan, EDC members said their goal is for 216 units to be built on the site, with 25 percent qualifying as affordable housing.

If 25 percent of a complex is designated affordable housing, the entire complex can count as such. In this case, that would allow Wayland to reach 10 percent affordable housing in the community, the state's required threshold.

5. One resident in attendance asked why the EDC is requesting so much money at one time rather than seeking only the funds necessary to determine whether the site is viable.

Potter explained that the current market for multifamily properties among developers "is very hot." The fear is that requesting funds and performing due diligence "piecemeal" will take too long and allow the market to cool. Even if the proposed warrant passes and the studies reveal the land is feasible for residential property, residents must still approve the rezoning of the site and the sale of the land.

The idea for the Route 20 Housing Project was presented during a Board of Selectmen meeting in November. .