The following letter was delivered to the Planning Board at the hearing on the evening of March 11, 2019.
The hearing was closed at the end of the meeting and now the Planning Board is working on the final wording of the Zoning Amendments before sending them to Town Meeting.
We are a diverse group of Boxborough citizens of all ages; we are taxpayers who support development and the desire to strengthen the Town’s commercial tax base. Many of us are active as volunteers on Town boards, committees, and non-profits. We share one concern: that the rush to approve significant changes to the Town’s zoning bylaws, without a full and complete study, will make it impossible for voters to make well-informed decisions by the time of the Annual Town Meeting in May.
We support the Planning Board’s efforts to revise office park zoning bylaws. And we encourage the Planning Board to take the time necessary to initiate professional study and open meetings regarding a number of serious issues surrounding the Lincoln Properties land at 1414 Mass Ave. This is land on which Lincoln currently proposes to construct about one-point-one million square feet of warehouses, the buildings alone covering over 25 acres of land. We therefore ask the Board to postpone a vote on these changes until these studies are complete. We believe a vote in May is premature, and postponement until the fall will give the Board time to bring clarity to the bylaw changes, so that voters will understand what they are being asked to decide.
Before describing the required studies, we would point out three issues we believe the Planning Board must address:
First, the Board’s proposed zoning changes to accommodate the 218 acres owned by Lincoln Properties also apply to an additional 152 acres owned by others. We do not think the Planning Board should extend zoning bylaw changes beyond 1414 Mass Ave until we understand what the consequences might be, especially if other landowners also decide to build warehouses.
Second, the proposal to change the amount of land one can use for building from 30% of the land to 50% is unnecessary to accommodate Lincoln’s initial plan. We also see no need to increase from .1 to .4 the Floor Area Ratio relative to the size of the lot. An increase to .15 would be enough; anything much more than that would allow for larger buildings than the Town should tolerate.
And third, it is also appropriate for the Planning Board to keep in place the current Special Permit requirement for all office park commercial and industrial development, because site plan review has no teeth without regulations stipulated in zoning bylaws. Most of our neighboring towns require a Special Permit for commercial and industrial development. We also understand that a Special Permit adds only a month or two to the process. The Town also might reconsider the adoption of a “fast track” approach the Town considered a number of years ago.
And now for the studies we believe the Planning Board must make before asking the Town’s voters to consider changes to the office park zoning bylaws:
It is imperative that the Planning Board and the Town carefully study the different kinds of warehouses Lincoln Properties might build. The type of warehouse has a significant impact on the number of additional 18-wheelers, delivery trucks, and cars using Boxborough roads. For example, a High Cube Warehouse produces truck traffic 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at a rate of 1,000 to as many as 10,000 trips a day. Parcel hubs, cold storage, and short-term warehouses have other trucking hours and requirements. What will be appropriate for Boxborough? Find out.
As the Planning Board studies the impact of different warehouses on the Town, a professional study of traffic must take place before we vote on zoning bylaw changes. We understand that Lincoln proposes to place an unenforceable “left turn only” sign for trucks leaving the property, to get them to use Route 495. What about trucks which want to head towards Boston on route 111, or trucks wanting to come to the warehouses on 111 from Route 2, through West Acton? It is imperative that we know how 18-wheelers and delivery trucks will use Route 111, particularly as they pass Blanchard School. We also need to know how such heavy trucking will affect other Town roads connecting Route 2 and Route 495. What will happen on Liberty Square Road, Hill Road, and other routes to and from the warehouses? Restricting traffic will require professional study, the advice of Town Police and Fire Departments, the Town Traffic Safety Committee, and negotiations with the State. Before the Planning Board asks voters to pass new zoning bylaws, we should wait till such work is done, so voters will understand what they are being asked to decide.
And the Planning Board also needs time to make professional studies regarding the impact of the proposed warehouses on water quality, air quality, and light and noise pollution. Over a million square feet—over 25 acres--of warehouse buildings, plus large areas of blacktop, diesel fuel and fumes, the potential pollution of the aquifer from water runoff and fuel spills, and other environmental issues need a thorough investigation and complete reports before we vote.
We support smart development. We support the strengthening of the Town’s commercial tax base. However, Town voters deserve to learn the findings of all these studies, with help from outside, professional advice. Only then should voters be asked to approve office park zoning changes.
We urge the Planning Board to postpone the vote till the work is done. A rushed, and potentially flawed approach leaves the Town vulnerable to serious errors that will affect the Town for decades.
Scott Bundy
Hugh Fortmiller
Janet Glidden
Jeff Glidden
Richard Hilton
Diana Lipari
Francie Nolde
Barbara Salzman
Lisa St. Amand
Mark White
(Eight other Boxborough citizens participated in the preparation of this report, but they were not available on March 11 to give permission to add their names to the final revision of the report.)
The hearing was closed at the end of the meeting and now the Planning Board is working on the final wording of the Zoning Amendments before sending them to Town Meeting.
We are a diverse group of Boxborough citizens of all ages; we are taxpayers who support development and the desire to strengthen the Town’s commercial tax base. Many of us are active as volunteers on Town boards, committees, and non-profits. We share one concern: that the rush to approve significant changes to the Town’s zoning bylaws, without a full and complete study, will make it impossible for voters to make well-informed decisions by the time of the Annual Town Meeting in May.
We support the Planning Board’s efforts to revise office park zoning bylaws. And we encourage the Planning Board to take the time necessary to initiate professional study and open meetings regarding a number of serious issues surrounding the Lincoln Properties land at 1414 Mass Ave. This is land on which Lincoln currently proposes to construct about one-point-one million square feet of warehouses, the buildings alone covering over 25 acres of land. We therefore ask the Board to postpone a vote on these changes until these studies are complete. We believe a vote in May is premature, and postponement until the fall will give the Board time to bring clarity to the bylaw changes, so that voters will understand what they are being asked to decide.
Before describing the required studies, we would point out three issues we believe the Planning Board must address:
First, the Board’s proposed zoning changes to accommodate the 218 acres owned by Lincoln Properties also apply to an additional 152 acres owned by others. We do not think the Planning Board should extend zoning bylaw changes beyond 1414 Mass Ave until we understand what the consequences might be, especially if other landowners also decide to build warehouses.
Second, the proposal to change the amount of land one can use for building from 30% of the land to 50% is unnecessary to accommodate Lincoln’s initial plan. We also see no need to increase from .1 to .4 the Floor Area Ratio relative to the size of the lot. An increase to .15 would be enough; anything much more than that would allow for larger buildings than the Town should tolerate.
And third, it is also appropriate for the Planning Board to keep in place the current Special Permit requirement for all office park commercial and industrial development, because site plan review has no teeth without regulations stipulated in zoning bylaws. Most of our neighboring towns require a Special Permit for commercial and industrial development. We also understand that a Special Permit adds only a month or two to the process. The Town also might reconsider the adoption of a “fast track” approach the Town considered a number of years ago.
And now for the studies we believe the Planning Board must make before asking the Town’s voters to consider changes to the office park zoning bylaws:
It is imperative that the Planning Board and the Town carefully study the different kinds of warehouses Lincoln Properties might build. The type of warehouse has a significant impact on the number of additional 18-wheelers, delivery trucks, and cars using Boxborough roads. For example, a High Cube Warehouse produces truck traffic 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at a rate of 1,000 to as many as 10,000 trips a day. Parcel hubs, cold storage, and short-term warehouses have other trucking hours and requirements. What will be appropriate for Boxborough? Find out.
As the Planning Board studies the impact of different warehouses on the Town, a professional study of traffic must take place before we vote on zoning bylaw changes. We understand that Lincoln proposes to place an unenforceable “left turn only” sign for trucks leaving the property, to get them to use Route 495. What about trucks which want to head towards Boston on route 111, or trucks wanting to come to the warehouses on 111 from Route 2, through West Acton? It is imperative that we know how 18-wheelers and delivery trucks will use Route 111, particularly as they pass Blanchard School. We also need to know how such heavy trucking will affect other Town roads connecting Route 2 and Route 495. What will happen on Liberty Square Road, Hill Road, and other routes to and from the warehouses? Restricting traffic will require professional study, the advice of Town Police and Fire Departments, the Town Traffic Safety Committee, and negotiations with the State. Before the Planning Board asks voters to pass new zoning bylaws, we should wait till such work is done, so voters will understand what they are being asked to decide.
And the Planning Board also needs time to make professional studies regarding the impact of the proposed warehouses on water quality, air quality, and light and noise pollution. Over a million square feet—over 25 acres--of warehouse buildings, plus large areas of blacktop, diesel fuel and fumes, the potential pollution of the aquifer from water runoff and fuel spills, and other environmental issues need a thorough investigation and complete reports before we vote.
We support smart development. We support the strengthening of the Town’s commercial tax base. However, Town voters deserve to learn the findings of all these studies, with help from outside, professional advice. Only then should voters be asked to approve office park zoning changes.
We urge the Planning Board to postpone the vote till the work is done. A rushed, and potentially flawed approach leaves the Town vulnerable to serious errors that will affect the Town for decades.
Scott Bundy
Hugh Fortmiller
Janet Glidden
Jeff Glidden
Richard Hilton
Diana Lipari
Francie Nolde
Barbara Salzman
Lisa St. Amand
Mark White
(Eight other Boxborough citizens participated in the preparation of this report, but they were not available on March 11 to give permission to add their names to the final revision of the report.)