Wellesley Special Town Meeting Night #1: MBTA Communities motions approved; HVAC & other spending OK’d

Wellesley Special Town Meeting kicked off on Monday, Oct. 21 at Wellesley High School (see Wellesley Media recording), and while the bulk of articles presented and voted on were funding related, the headliner was the town’s approval of three motions under a housing-related article designed to make Wellesley compliant with the state’s MBTA Communities Act.

Wellesley had already made serious progress in complying with the law, which requires communities with or near public transportation to create zoning of multifamily housing units by right to help address the state’s housing shortage. Wellesley’s existing zoning bylaw got the town most of the way toward compliance, as did bylaw changes approved by Annual Town Meeting in April.

Under approvals at Special Town Meeting and earlier, a total of 1,727 multifamily units would be allowed (this includes the 850 already zoned for at Wellesley Park where the Nines is located).

The town had left itself the cushion of approvals at Special Town Meeting to enable it to meet the state’s year-end deadline for MBTA Communities Act compliance, or risk losing eligibility for important grants and possibly subjecting the town to legal action.

The changes left to make were largely tweaks requested by the state’s housing department after previewing Wellesley’s plans. These entailed nixing a cumulative height cap at the Wellesley Park 40R district on William Street, where the Nines apartment complex is located and more housing could be built. Buildings still won’t be able to exceed 85 feet in height (the Nines is 69 feet high), but the change under Motion 1 of this article clarified that the existing cumulative height restriction for the area wouldn’t prevent additional construction of units as high as 85 feet. What’s more, if construction hits the current 850-unit maximum, up to 175 more units could be built at a density of 15 units per acre rather than the base 20-unit per acre rule.

The other two motions under Article 15 had to do with language changes, getting rid of the term “special permit,” not allowed under the MBTA Communities Act, and referring instead to site plan reviews. Special permits can be more onerous than site plan reviews, not that site plan reviews give developers a pass on things like traffic circulation and intensity of use. A site plan review can be “conditioned but it can’t be unreasonably withheld… just because the town doesn’t like the project,” said Planning Director Eric Arbeene during the meeting.

The article generated just a handful of Town Meeting member questions and comments.

Town Meeting member Peter Welburn said he was voting against the motions because he thinks the town should be in charge of its zoning and not have requirements dictated by the state. He also said he thinks the town has been rushing through the process and should wait until the state supreme court weighs in on the matter based on the town of Milton’s opposition to the law.

Town Meeting member Ann-Mara Lanza rose in support of the article and said that with much of the town’s work on this issue done, “I think it would be ridiculous to leave the town open to lawsuits at this point over these small changes.”

A motion was made to require separate votes on all three motions under Article 15, but it got voted down. The bundled motions were approved 169-15-2.

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Funding, funding & more funding

The first article of substance presented and voted on Monday was Article 3, seeking approval for $6.23M in funding for a heating/cooling overhaul at the Warren Building, home to the town’s Health and Recreation departments. The article was backed by the Select Board, Permanent Building Committee (PBC), and received a favorable recommendation from the Advisory Committee.

Many Town Meeting members were familiar with the subject, as they were approached and approved funding in 2021 for a feasibility study and in 2023 for design study funds. The upgrade is largely addressing indoor air quality issues that have been an issue since a building renovation 20 years ago. The fire protection system, other mechanical systems and the roof also are past their prime. The variable refrigerant flow HVAC system and air source heat pumps to be installed follow on the heels of such systems going in at the new Hardy and Hunnewell Elementary Schools. The project received an earlier boost when the Wellesley Climate Action Committee secured a $500,000 state grant to put toward it.

The plan is to move people out of the Warren Building during construction to 888 Worcester St., and Upham Elementary School, which closed at the end of this past school year as part of the town’s consolidation efforts. Doing construction without employees in the building will allow the project to be done less expensively and more speedily, starting in June and ending in November if all goes according to plan.

The motion under Article 3 passed by a 144-45-1 count, with opposition raised during debate by a couple of Town Meeting members who said they want to see HVAC issues at some schools addressed before any other town buildings are upgraded. The HVAC issue has been raised at earlier public meetings, including Annual Town Meeting in April and at School Committee meetings. A Town Meeting member also asked about the backup plan for the soon-to-be all-electric building if the power goes out (a PBC rep said that portable heaters would be among the solutions).

With $6M-plus already approved for HVAC, what’s $2M for a new Department of Public Works fuel depot at Municipal Way? Article 4, seeking that amount, passed easily by voice vote. After all, the DPW has been so responsible with the existing fuel depot built in 1995 and exceeding its expected lifespan by still operating today. Plans are to start building the new one in the spring and to finish it by sometime in the fall.

Article 5 was something a bit different: Seeking $93K from free cash to cover a Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) settlement with the fire department regarding a miscalculation for compensatory time off for those working overtime from the start of 2022 to mid-2024. The Select Board worked behind the scenes with the fire department, town counsel and the Human Resources director to sort things out, and came up with the monetary request from Town Meeting, which was approved almost unanimously via voice vote.

Article 6 includes two of the scariest words in town documents: “eminent domain.” However, this request for funds for land acquisition to improve the intersection at Linden Street and Weston Road was negotiated more collaboratively than that with property owner Haynes Management.  This intersection upgrade would be designed to improve pedestrian and traffic safety at this citation hotspot featuring a sometimes solid red/sometimes blinking red light in the stretch between the new Bristol and Terrazza condo complexes.

The town has various funding and grant potential to cover the costs, but the bottleneck grant from the state can’t be used for land acquisition. The town requested $136K-plus (amounting to $65K per sq. ft) from Town Meeting to cover the purchase, and this motion was approved almost unanimously.

To-do list

With session #1 in the books, only three Articles remained for Special Town Meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 22. One on a proposed amendment to the Linden Square development agreement, and two regarding zoning map changes for residential incentive overlays in lower falls where plans for condo developments have been revealed if zoning relief can be obtained.