Reminder: Wellesley Special Town Meeting on MassBay land’s future TONIGHT (May 11)

Not that you probably need a reminder given the barrage of messages flying around in recent weeks, but Wellesley is holding a Special Town Meeting tonight (May 11, 7pm at Wellesley High School) so that the Select Board can get guidance on how to proceed regarding the state’s designation as surplus land and subsequent land disposition of 40 Oakland St. at MassBay Community College.

The state refers to the property as “An underutilized 45-acre parcel including a 5-acre parking lot adjacent to the MassBay Community College Wellesley Campus.” The rest of the acreage is mainly forest land adjacent to the town’s Centennial Reservation. The state’s aim to have a developer build 180 units “on and around the existing parking area” to help address the regional housing shortage.

In a letter to Town Meeting members, Moderator Mark Kaplan wrote “This is not a traditional Town Meeting. The Select Board is seeking Town Meeting’s non-binding advice on three possible options in response to the State’s proposed development on and/or in the immediate vicinity of the Mass Bay Community College’s parking lot at 40 Oakland Street. There is a lot of work, and it needs to be completed in just one session…” The state has set a deadline of May 13 for feedback on the MassBay land disposition ahead of a request for proposals being issued to developers later this year.

The three options (A, B, C) under motion 1 of Article 2 before Town Meeting are:

• A. Agreeing to the state’s framework (motion 1)
• B. Negotiating with the state (motion 2)
• C. Suing the state (motion 3)

Select Board Chair Marjorie Freiman has said that a presentation shared with the Advisory Committee recently will be similar to one shared with Town Meeting on Monday. The appointed Advisory Committee, which vets motions ahead of Town Meetings, has issued a report to Special Town Meeting following its discussion on the topic and vote (see Wellesley Media recording of April 29 meeting). Two committee members voted favorable action on option A, nine voted favorable action on option B, and none voted favorable action on option C (there was one abstention). Some organizations in town have voiced support for option C, and a large contingent of people who supported that option showed up and spoke at the April 29 Advisory Committee session.

Advisory voted favorable action by a 9-3 count on the motion under Article 3, which would approve an additional FY27 appropriation of $900k for legal services regarding the MassBay issue.