Wellesley’s North 40 Steering Committee in consultation with landscape and community planning outfits will be hosting a series of public workshops to create a vision for the potential use of the North 40 for municipal purposes. The following workshops are scheduled at the Wellesley High School Cafeteria:
Neighborhood Workshop for Weston Road and Woodlands Neighbors: Sunday, September 7, 2014 at 7:00 pm
Town-Wide Workshop (Two Sessions Available): Sunday, September 14th 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm and Sunday, September 14th 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
The workshops will explore how residents currently use and value the North 40 and surrounding area, and will consider the varied relationships between the North 40 and the adjacent neighborhoods and Morses Pond. Participants will be encouraged to identify issues and opportunities for alternative land uses, and to develop goals for any potential municipal use located on the site. This visioning exercise will in no way determine the final use of the land should the Town acquire the site, but rather will inform the Board of Selectmen on whether the residents of Wellesley see value and potential opportunity to expand services and assets with acquisition of the site.
If residents cannot attend any of the workshops, but would like to submit ideas or comments please send an email to north40@wellesleyma.gov .
Additional information on the North 40 and the North 40 Steering Committee is available on the Town’s website www.wellesleyma.gov/North40 which will be updated as additional information becomes available. For more information, please contact Meghan Jop at 781-431-1019 x2205.
Where is the $$ to buy this land from Wellesley College going to come from?
If this land is sold to a developer, the town would also incur costs for infrastructure and schools to support approximately 70 to 300 new families (according to current zoning and section 40B affordable housing limits as presented at the Town Steering Committee meeting on Sept 2nd).
If the college sold to a land conservatory, the costs to the town would be nothing or minimal. There is a petition circulating to urge the college to pursue this option. It can be found here:
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/save-the-north-40