The Swellesley Report

The Wellesley Planning Board earlier this month discussed commissioning a visioning study of the Lower Falls Village area, which is ripe for redevelopment in light of large properties changing hands already or expected to before long (see Wellesley Media recording of the April 13 Planning Board meeting, about 10 minutes in). It’s also a challenging area in that it is nearby major highways and plagued by traffic.

This study would be separate, but related to, recent studies like the Strategic Housing Plan and future ones, like a new Comprehensive Plan. A draft request for proposals (RFP) is in the works, and served as a jumping off point for the April 13 discussion (the study could cost up to $50k). A study of this area was conducted in the 1990s.

Brad Downey, interim planning director, said in a follow-up email exchange that “The genesis of this particular study is the result of a few factors: increased activity and involvement from neighbors on future development in the Lower Falls area following the two RIOs proposed at Fall 2024 Town Meeting, as well as the pending sale of many of the Haynes Management properties in that area, which are to be sold to another property owner, likely for redevelopment. The increased neighborhood interest as well as increased likelihood of future development were the two key factors the Planning Board had in mind when considering this study.”

It remains to be seen how soon the RFP will be finalized and issued. Asked about a timeline for issuing the RFP, Downey said at the meeting that “I don’t think there is a particular rush.”)

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It can be challenging to keep track of what’s coming up at Wellesley town government meetings. We try to help by posting an agenda preview each week that highlights items we think might be of interest, as we did with this study (See: “Wellesley town government meetings for week of April 13, 2026: Town Meeting debriefs; Lower Falls Area Study Discussion”). Sign up for our free weekday email newsletter to stay plugged in.

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The funding for this project comes from the Planning Department operating budget, which typically includes $50,000 each year for retaining professional services, such as planning consulting services to conduct studies.

Toward the beginning of the Planning Board’s discussion, member Jim Roberti shared a map of the Lower Falls area (to be defined as part of the RFP process) to illustrate the hodgepodge of zoning districts within this part of town. There’s business, industrial, Lower Falls Village, Residential Incentive Overlay (RIO), and other zoning in the area covering Walnut, River, and Washington Streets.

 
This section of Wellesley has been at the epicenter of discussions at Town Meeting and beyond in recent years about RIOs due to proposed multi-family housing projects that many neighbors opposed for density, traffic, and other reasons. Also, arguments were made that efforts to eliminate RIOs from some parts of town might unfairly burden other parts, namely Lower Falls (Annual Town Meeting recently voted to eliminate RIOs from all districts, not including the four previously approved RIO projects).

In discussing the proposed Lower Falls study, Roberti said “I guess the question’s going to come: Why are we doing this? Are we doing it to restrict this area so less things can be developed? Or are we doing it to regulate what’s going to be built or are we going to encourage more to be built?” Roberti said he’d also been asked about whether Planning envisions doing traffic studies, and he wondered about whether funding would even be available for that.

Board member Ed Chazen asked how this study might fit with a broader Comprehensive Plan the town plans to undertake (it failed to get funding at Annual Town Meeting, but proponents will be back with another request). The Comprehensive Plan would succeed the dated Unified Plan, a long-range vision for future land use, development, and growth across town. The Planning Board’s Tom Taylor said he’d see the Lower Falls plan as being more detailed, getting into issues like traffic flow and parking (maybe turning parking lanes into traffic lanes during certain hours, like in Wellesley Hills, or decking the municipal parking lot on River Street).

“The elephant in the room is the Haynes property that sits right through the middle of this,” Taylor said. “We can have all sorts of great ideas and they can just say forget it, I’m going to build by right…”

Chazen urged that the town get into conversations with the big property owners in the area sooner than later to help ensure that this gateway into town is developed thoughtfully. While many properties are owned by Haynes, or have been sold by Haynes to others, there are also other established property owners in the area (such as at 1 Washington St. along the Charles River) that would need to be looped in.

Roberti pointed out that this a “commercial/business/industrial area that butts right up to a residential area…and I think one of the problems with the RIO is that there wasn’t enough buffer between the improved or changed use and the current residential.”

The board talked as well about needing to get neighborhood input in advance of issuing the RFP and/or as part of the study.

This study would roll out even as new developments proceed in Lower Falls, including a multi-family housing complex at 49 Walnut St., and a First Citizens Bank branch at 26 Washington St. where Taylor Rental used to be.

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