Around Natick

 West Natick Neighborhood Meeting, June of 2007. Here’s what was presented, and my take on it.

Part of the neighborhood meeting was devoted to displaying an aerial view of the National Guard site, with a baseball diamond superimposed on it. There was mention by the Rec Department, that they envision a park located there in several years, once the state agrees to a 30 year lease of the property. The distraction of this large photo was effective in calming the audience, and drawing attention to something most pleasing. Kind of like what was successfully done a few years ago by comparing a golf course with a dump, and explaining that the town had no choices when it came to capping the landfill. It made many residents think the building of the course was a state mandate.

Playing baseball on a new field sounds nice, even though a park containing athletic amenities will become a traffic magnet as well. Imagine the crowds at Cochituate State Park flocking to what could be called Cochituate II? I wonder why they didn’t have drawings of enlarged Brown School and Kennedy School rehabs? Those ideas might be distractions going in the wrong direction. More practical, would have been a chart showing proposed Police and Fire budget increases necessitated by Mall expansion, as well as a drawing of an expanded West Natick Fire Station showing a possible change in it’s footprint on the site. That might have been more important and appropriate than a drawing of a ballfield, I think. However, it’s not about what’s important, it’s about strategy, tactics and marketing.

The town may want to lease the land for that ballpark, just as they now lease a large chunk of golf course from the Dowse family of Sherborn. Either way, it’s quite a few years of toxic cleanup before anything happens there. Thus, not a subject appropriate to the topic of retail and residential impacts to the area now going on a mile to the north. More strategy, and marketing.

The Natick Soccer Club presented a plot plan of the Cole field showing an enlarged soccer field, and explained that they’d like to fund the expansion of, and improve upon, the playing fields and parking lot. Marketing the programs in front of family audiences always works.

Another way of phrasing, would have been “we’d like to cut down about 75 large trees which currently beautify the surrounding open-space buffer, in order to play two games instead of one, at the same time. In order to do this,  of course we’ll have to enlarge the parking lot.”  I wonder why the soccer club didn’t present drawings of field “improvements” around the Brown-Kennedy area? How would residents react to a drawing of the Kennedy fields with all the trees cut down along the perimeter, and in between the two schools for doubling the field and parking lots there? In the interest of strategy, the tactic would have worked against the marketing of the special interests. They would have been forced to deal with the school department, rather than the Recreation Department. Often, it’s a strategy on who you deal with and what would be easiest and cheapest.

The West Natick Neighborhood held a meeting tonight at the Cole Center, and neighbors were briefed on a variety of subjects, from the Speen St. improvements, to an explanation on the status of the National Guard site, and lots of information about 40B, and rental property. It surprised me that none of the residents remembered the background. Lots of complaints were heard. Town officials listened politely and with empathy. Many agreed that nothing can be done to stop a 40B, and convinced a few that they’re trying their best to work with the developer.

Up until about 4 years ago, the possibility of this all happening was remote.  Why you might ask?  Didn’t they tell us they have no control over the push by the state to allow 40B into any town that hasn’t met it’s 10 percent threshold? Of course. However, up until about 4 years ago, the Cloverleaf Speen St site was Zoned Commercial/Industrial. The town, Selectmen, Planning and Zoning, decided to rezone the area to allow residential. When the developer presented his application to the state for a site eligibility letter, I imagine the fact that the rezoning had occurred didn’t hurt his chances.  Thank you for the “vision.” Must be there wasn’t a Natick360 back then to watch over us. Just where was Craig Ross tonight anyway? Oh, must be it’s not his neighborhood.

Thank you, Selectmen, and Community Development, for setting us up.

Nothing will happen at the Sam’s site because of the 10 year lease? I don’t think it’ll take that long for someone to help out the distressed site by building a 10 story tower. After all, there’s already a parking garage there too. Did someone say Natick has it’s hands tied when it comes to housing projects? The state gave the town a reprieve on 40B for the rest of the year, but the zoning board approved South Natick Hills anyway.

Josh Ostroff stood quietly at the meeting, looking as though he wished the words “rail trail” held some magic. Sorry, Josh, but lack of parking around TCAN on show night doesn’t matter to this crowd. And Mark Coviello was thinking about the quality of granite curbstones, that are intended to pacify the complaints about traffic.

Yes, they listen with empathy, nod in agreement, invite participation, all the while doing what they want to do anyway. Don’t bother to disagree, because if you do, they’ll belittle you publicly and run you out of office like they did a recently departed Selectman.

Someone mentioned that there would only be about 60 kids entering the schools from the Cloverleaf/Chrysler Road project. A resident pointed out that Brown School is already packed to capacity, and Kennedy is so neglected, it would need an expensive rehab soon. I don’t think the town officials in attendance could disagree. They nodded in agreement, and listened with empathy.

At the end of the night, the Natick Soccer Club showed a map with a plan to fund a taking down of lots of trees and open space buffer around the Cole field. They must be paying Elm Bank a fortune, to want to make 1 field into 2. I wonder if the town will waive a rental fee for them?

All in all, an interesting night.

“Setting a standard in retail design” said one member of the Planning Board last year.

I wonder if the interior of “Nouvelle” will look as elegant and upscale as this? Time will tell.

What if the new Nordstrom at Nouvelle were to have a setting and background with trees and lawn like this one?

Information is key to helping residents understand what’s going on in town.

John Wadsworth wrote the following question and answer piece concerning the affordable housing issue as it relates to current projects in Natick, more specifically the 40B projects near the northern section of Speen St. This coming Monday evening at the Cole Center, town officials will discuss and offer information to interested residents.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN NATICK

Cloverleaf Apartments, consisting of 183 units of rental housing, is currently under construction behind the Cloverleaf Mall on Speen Street. Chrysler Apartments, consisting of 404 units of rental housing, is being proposed for construction at the end of Chrysler Road, on the other side of the CSX rail spur from Cloverleaf Apartments. 75% of the rental units in each project will be offered to the public at market rental rates, and 25% will be reserved for moderate income people. Both projects are being developed under chapter 40B of the Massachusetts General Laws.

While putting this much new housing in an area that currently has none is bound to have some significant impacts on Natick, in particular West Natick, prior to a full-fledge discussion of all of the issues at the June 25 meeting, it makes sense to provide some background information of what exactly this “affordable” proposal is, so that we can focus the discussion.

1. What is Chapter 40B? Chapter 40B was enacted by the Massachusetts legislature a number of years ago in response to concerns that affordable housing was not being constructed in Massachusetts, and that towns were establishing zoning requirements (such as requiring large lot sizes) that would exclude and discourage the construction of moderately priced housing.
2. What does 40B do? Chapter 40B allows a developer to circumvent zoning restrictions that might otherwise preclude construction of affordable housing. While a 40B developer must still work with the Town and obtain approvals, conditions imposed in permits that would restrict the project can be removed by a state agency. That state agency’s primary goal is the creation of affordable housing, and therefore they have not been particularly sympathetic to attempts to deny projects based on concerns with traffic, density, overtaxing infrastructure, etc. Natick has a history of spending a lot of money unsuccessfully challenging 40B proposals.
3. What is “affordable”? In the case of what is being proposed at Cloverleaf and Chrysler Road, “affordable” does not mean “subsidized”. People will not be given housing vouchers under any welfare program which can then be used to acquire housing at these units. Instead, these units will be rental housing, and 25% of the units in these buildings will be rented at a capped rent which is set at a level designed to allow a single person earning approximately $45,000 per year, or a family of four earning up to approximately $55,000 per year, to live in the unit.
4. I thought these units were for poor people? Given Massachusetts’ housing prices, even someone earning $45,000 - $55,000 per year has trouble finding housing they can afford. “Affordable” in this project could mean a school teacher’s salary or a firemen or people who would work at the new Mall.
5. Isn’t there something involving a 10% threshold involved in 40B? Under Chapter 40B, if less than 10% of a town’s housing stock is “affordable”, it cannot turn down a legitimate 40B proposal. If a town is over the 10% threshold, it does not have to accept any further 40B developments.
6. How does this project affect Natick’s 10% threshold? Under the rules for counting affordable housing under 40B, all units in a rental development count as affordable even though only 25% of the units are subject to the “affordable” cap. In other words, all 587 units in these two projects will be counted toward Natick’s 10% threshold. Calculations are that these units, along with other currently approved 40B proposals in Town, and the Natick Mall’s obligation to acquire more than 40 existing units and maintain them as affordable, will put Natick over the 10% threshold for years to come, thereby protecting Natick against having to accept 40B projects in the future.
7. Didn’t I read that the town got a state exemption from accepting any more 40B proposals? In order to avoid a town being inundated with new proposals, the law has some relief valves incorporated. One of these allows towns to turn down new proposals if a certain number are approved in a given year. Natick hit that threshold during 2007, but it is only relief for a year, and requirements to accept new projects will be re-imposed when the temporary reprieve expires.
8. Can’t the Town fight this proposal? Natick has a history of unsuccessfully challenging similar projects. The Town has spent a lot of money over the years and has little to show for it other than establishing precedent that mandates that these projects go forward. Natick can object to aspects of the project on grounds of impacts to roadways, schools, etc., but the fundamental issue to be considered is whether any limitation the Town imposes has an adverse economic impact. This is an extremely difficult and subjective standard, and is one that usually is weighed in favor of encouraging more affordable housing development. Furthermore, Natick actually has several interests in promoting the development of affordable housing, to maintain demographic diversity, to allow people who are providing services to Natick, such as police and fire employees and teachers, to be able to afford to live in Natick, and to provide housing to support local businesses such as TJX, Staples, Cognex, Mathworks, etc.
9. The Mall paid a lot of money in mitigation – won’t this developer have to provide mitigation? The mall was not a 40B project. The answer appears that a 40B developer does not have to provide anything. (The taxes paid on these parcels will go up dramatically, likely 10 fold, based on these new uses, and the developer will pay that, but that is not deemed “mitigation”). It is likely that the Town will attempt to negotiate payments or other mitigation. The developer desires to maintain friendly relationships with Natick, and so is inclined to accommodate concerns where they are reasonable. In other words, the Town has enough leverage to ask for reasonable concessions, and the developer also wants a successful housing project, since 75% of the units will still be rented at “market” rates, and a project which, for example, is aesthetically pleasing, has appropriate green space, is adjacent to a functioning rail trail, and is accessible by sidewalks, will make for a more marketable project. The Planning Board has indicated that they will seek some sort of payments from the developer.
10. Will this mean that a lot of people from other towns will be moving to these projects? The Town has the ability to require a local preference in renting of the affordable units. In other words, they can require that up to 70% of the units be first made available to current Natick residents, Natick elderly, and town workers. The Board of Selectmen has recently considered imposing this 70% local preference, and who should get this preference.
11. Won’t this overtax the schools – I would think these projects attract a lot of families with children? Since this is often a big concern, the state tracks the number of children in affordable units. Based on past history, and the fact that this developer is constructing predominantly one and two bedroom units, with a few studios, it is estimated that the total number of school-age children living in all 587 units will total less than 50.
12. How about other infrastructure – don’t we need a ladder truck for these projects and for the Mall housing? The Natick Fire Department has looked at these issues, and has concluded that fires in buildings such as this and the Mall are fought not from the outside with ladders, but from the inside. The Mall has given significant amounts of money to the Fire Department to respond to concerns. Making sure that the Town has the resources to adequately respond to fires at these new projects is still a concern.
13. How about traffic? Traffic is a concern. The developer has done a traffic study which has been reviewed by the Town’s traffic consultant. Most of the traffic would appear to impact Route 9 and Speen Street towards the Mass Pike. Little of the traffic is likely to add to congestion on Speen Street south of Route 9. Issues that will need to be resolved include the likely increased congestion at Chrysler Road and Speen Street (Home Depot) especially with the Mall’s added traffic, and the fact that an easy by-pass of Speen Street congestion will be to cut through the Home Depot parking lot. Also, because the railroad right of way bisects the two areas (and there is a steep grade) there cannot be a connecting road between the Cloverleaf building and the two buildings proposed on Chrysler Road.

This discussion was developed in consultation with Patrick Reffett, the Natick Community Development Director, and Josh Katzen, the developer of the Chrysler Road and Cloverleaf Apartments.

John W. Wadsworth, Esq.

Courtesy of Jeff Phillips, here’s  information about the School in South Natick.

History:

The Eliot School was built in 1937 with funds from the federal government under the WPA.
It was used as an elementary school by the Natick Public Schools until some time around 1979.
The School Department leased the building to Eliot Montessori beginning in (approx.) 1980.
In 1995 the School Committee voted to “surplus” the building and handed the deed over to the Board of Selectmen as required under MGL. (For some inexplicable reason the Assessors still have this property and other surplused former school properties deeded to the Natick School Committee. I asked the Director of Assessing why this was so and did not receive an answer that made any sense…so I just gave up trying to understand why it hasn’t been done.)

The “Town” signed a lease with Eliot Montessori at some time (possibly in 1990). The latest (and current lease) was signed in 2000 for a ten year period.

The Lease:
The terms of the lease (as I understand them): Eliot Montessori pays the Town $60,000 per year for each and every year until 2010.
The Town pays all utilities.
Any capital expense over a certain amount (I have heard $10,000 mentioned) is to be paid for by Eliot Montessori. (Yet, the cupola on the building was replaced by the Town with an appropriation of $25,000 approx. four years ago).
The DPW Maintenance Dept. has been responsible for the building since 1998 according to a report from the department super. What this entails I do not know. At different times, different answers have been given re: the arrangement.

In FY 2006 the Town of Natick netted $626 from the lease of the Eliot School. When you factor in the utilities it would appear that the Town “lost” money on the deal.

The lease includes no inflation adjustment factor similar to the kind that was negotiated in the lease of the golf course land (for fifty years) from the Dowse Family in Sherborn. In that lease (negotiated at roughly the same time as the Eliot School lease) there is a minimum escalator of 3% and a maximum of 7% (based, I believe, on the Federal Government’s Consumer Price Index).

The Property:
The Eliot School abuts the Charles River on Rt. 16 in South Natick.
There is a little less than 3 acres of land.
The building facade has been well-maintained and looks exactly like the pictures in the 1938 Annual Town Report.
According to a TM member who spoke in favor of the lease the inside of the building is in need of major work in the future.
I have never been inside the building so I can not speak to that point.
No one from DPW or the Town Administration spoke to that point.
The Finance Committee recommendation was silent on the issue.

The property is assessed on the Town’s Assessor’s valuation site for a little more than $1.5M. The land is assessed at less than $250,000 per acre.
I would be very willing to arrange financing and take it off the Town’s hands for that price.
(Some of the land…(how much? ….who knows) is “valueless” since it abuts the river. Other parts of the property has deed restrictions. What are they? Beats me. Neither issue was mentioned by the proponents of the article (the BoS), by the Town Administration or by the Finance Committee recommendation.

Accounting:
The Town has been “operating” the lease account in violation of MGL.
The $60,000 collected on the lease has been listed on the Town’s financial statement as an “Educational Revolving Fund”. The money expended from this $60K has NOT been appropriated by Town Meeting as the law requires.
ONLY the School Committee is entitled to operate an “Educational Revolving Fund” when leasing “surplus” space in a building or buildings under their jurisdiction. In such a case ONLY the School Committee can control the account.

Before 1995 it was questionable whether or not the Town’s accounting was proper. After 1995 there is no question at all.
In order for the Town to operate the rental as a revolving account it would have been necessary to have an annual TM authorization.
Not only was this not done annually….it was never done at all.
AND if it had been done, it most certainly would not have been listed on the end of year balance sheet as an “Educational Revolving Account”.
AND if it were a real revolving account…any money leftover at year end would be the beginning balance of the next Fiscal Year. It would not close out to the General Fund.

So…you may be wondering what this all has to do with “only” authorizing the BoS to seek a Home Rule Petition to “simply” allow them a plethora of options to get a “good deal” for the Town with a 50 year lease.

I just thought that before TM authorizes any such possibility they should have as much information as the Town can provide. And the information should not depend on TM members asking the right questions.

There is much more….
To be continued….

This scene only happens for about a week, once a year, when the tree is in bloom, and the sun just right.

Click on the picture for a larger view.

The intersection of South St. and Washington St. in downtown Natick has begun it’s transformation into a pleasing corner, with the cables and wires placed underground. There’s one solitary pole left, which may come down within a few days. They’re waiting for NStar to give it up. (someone there said the pole was in too good a condition to be removed.)

Downtown Poles and wires Natick
Click on the picture for a larger view.

Here’s a sunset view of the intersection of Marion St. and East Central in downtown Natick. When Planners decided where to stop undergrounding cables through the downtown, they stopped one block west of this area. Too bad they didn’t have the vision, as now we own it.

Here’s a link to my opinion on Smart Growth.

We’re not a wealthy community.  Maybe it’s best to let the developers take over.