Wellesley issues Request for Proposals for Tailby and Railroad parking lots

March 29, 2018 by Deborah Brown 2 Comments

Tailby parking lot wellesley — Tailby parking lot.

Back in February, Wellesley was close to issuing a request for proposals (RFP) that would invite developers to submit ideas for how to reimagine the Tailby Lot (Linden Street) and Railroad Lot (Grove Street near Post Office). The reasoning put forth was that the town seeks to redevelop the lots in an effort to address its affordable and diverse housing shortage, but also to possibly increase parking and better tie together separate parts of Wellesley Square.

Now the town has released an official RFP, which says that it invites “…proposals from qualified developers to enter into one or more long-term leases to develop the Town of Wellesley Tailby (103 Linden Street) and Railroad (7 Grove Street) Commuter Parking Lots for parking and affordable and market rate housing that will be owned and operated by the selected developer(s).”

The RFP includes a history on the various efforts to rethink the space since the 1970s. Here are some of the ideas that have been floated over the years: decking over the Tailby Lot to increase its parking capacity and to accommodate housing; relocating the Wellesley Square railroad station to the vicinity of Weston Road and building a parking facility on town-owned land at that location; using the Tailby lot as part of a link between the Linden Street shopping area and Wellesley Square; co-developing the Tailby Lot for housing and parking”

The 2007 – 2017 Comprehensive plan called for focusing “efforts to create more diverse housing types and affordable housing by attracting rental developments to identified sites in Wellesley ”

Now it looks like 2018 will be the year when the town finally moves forward definitively with choosing a developer for that site. In the RFP’s list of Wellesley’s 15 preferred objectives, there are echoes of the suggestions made over the past three decades. Among them: “To creatively preserve and protect the Town interests in consistent and orderly growth within the Linden Street corridor while maintaining the character of the abutting single-family neighborhoods”; to create a mixed-use environment that includes subsidized housing inventory, enhanced and increased access to parking that serves the Linden Street and Wellesley Square areas; and to improve traffic flow.

Given the town’s efforts to fend off 40B proposals that some feel would be too disruptive to neighborhoods, it’s not surprising that the RFP addresses this issue head-on, noting in the RFP that “…the Town seeks to take proactive efforts to guide the development of affordable housing to appropriate sites that complement the integrity of the Town’s character, while also working to meet one or more 40B certification thresholds to protect the Town from future “unfriendly” 40Bs. The development of the Tailby and Railroad lots would do just this, allowing for many beneficial objectives to meet, while reducing the likelihood of development of 40B projects that are less ideal in terms of design and location.”

One of the 40Bs the Town references is the proposed 55-unit housing project at 148 Weston Road that would include 11 rental units deemed affordable. That site eligibility was okayed by a quasi-public outfit called MassHousing that also finances such buildings. The town, however, has a long list of concerns about the Wellesley Park project, including its potential impact on traffic, the environment and character of the neighborhood, and MassHousing has instructed the developer to address such issues as it moves forward with trying to get a comprehensive permit from the town. On April 3 there will be a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting that will include that issue.

Another 40B project is proposed for Delanson Circle, off Linden St., and has raised similar concerns to those aired by the town. The fact that two such projects are in the works in relative proximity to each other has ratcheted up neighbors’ concerns. That project will also be discussed at the April 3 ZBA meeting.

The RFP is due June 1, 2018 at noon, and a site visit for this RFP will be held on April 9, 2018 at 10am at the entrance to the Railroad Commuter Parking Lot.

Once the RFPs are in the Board of Selectmen will review them and make recommendations.

A look back at Wellesley’s early 40B (Anti-snob Zoning Act) disputes

February 27, 2018 by bbrown 2 Comments

Ardemore Apartments Wellesley — Ardemore Apartments on Cedar Street in Wellesley

40B housing developments are nothing new in Wellesley. While a new generation of Wellesley residents is coming up to speed on the Massachusetts 40B law in light of a slew of proposed housing developments here since last year, the town has been dealing with 40Bs since the 1970s, not long after the so-called anti-snob zoning statute went into effect to push communities to increase their affordable housing units to at least 10% of overall stock.

About 10 years ago the town tussled with developer Michael Connolly over a 5-condo unit at 65 Washington St., as Connolly looked to stretch the 40B rules as far as they could go.

But the first big 40B battles in Wellesley actually involved the 5-story brick building on Cedar Street near Walnut Street known as the Ardemore Apartments (also often referred to as Ardmore — no “e” in the middle). In the 1980s, Wellesley was only about halfway to the 10% affordable housing stock goal, and today the town’s percentage hovers in mid-6% territory.

The 36-unit apartment building on Cedar Street opened in 1986 with a mix of 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments, half affordable and half market rate, and according to a Townsman story at the time, about twice as many applications were filed by prospective tenants as there were apartments. Then-Gov. Michael Dukakis was invited to attend the groundbreaking, though I’ve found no indication he went.

That celebration of the new building was a long time in coming, with developer Cedar Associates applying for a permit in 1977 to erect a 48-unit complex. As is often the case with such projects, this developer sought approval for more units (48) than it wound up getting (36). All part of the negotiating game.

This game went beyond the town of Wellesley. A couple of legal cases involving this complex, currently assessed at $8.2M, went all the way to the state’s Supreme Judicial Court.

In one case, Wellesley’s Zoning Board of Appeals denied Ardemore’s 40B comprehensive permit, but the developer appealed to the Housing Appeals Committee (HAC), which overruled the ZBA. On further appeal, the SJC in 1982 agreed with the HAC and against the ZBA. The court declared that “the Legislature never intended that a proposed development be exclusively reserved for low and moderate income families to qualify as low and moderate income housing.”

In the other case, also involving Ardemore in 2002, the SJC agreed with Wellesley that where a 40B financing arrangement had a limit on the length of time that the apartments were to remain affordable, the ZBA comprehensive permit contained no such limitation. So to this day, all 36 units at Ardemore remain on Wellesley’s subsidized housing inventory according to Wellesley Planning Director Michael Zehner, and that’s a key count that contributes to the percentage of the town’s housing stock that’s deemed affordable.

Wellesley is currently working on a Housing Production Plan that aims to get the town’s affordable housing stock up to at least 10% — and to shield Wellesley from what it sees as unfriendly 40B proposals that don’t take scale, neighborhood character and other factors into account.

Another Wellesley 40B project on Rte. 9 progresses

January 29, 2018 by bbrown 7 Comments

40B 818-822 wellesley Rte. 9 — Condos coming?

Wellesley this past week got word that yet another 40B project — at 818-822 Worcester St. (Rte. 9 East) — is getting serious. The quasi-public MassHousing outfit, which also funds 40B projects, sent a site eligibility letter to the town about this project and has scheduled a site walk for Feb. 1 at 10am, which will no doubt be super convenient for many neighbors.

This proposed 4-story, 28-unit condo complex would pale in size compared to some of the other 40B projects in various stages of planning in town. This project, which would reside near the Hardy Elementary School, would include 7 affordable units that would enable the team building it to comply with the 40B statute and gain possible zoning breaks. Developer Jay Derenzo’s other 40B projects proposed in Wellesley, near the Sprague Elementary School, were reviewed by MassHousing and have not been given the go-ahead yet.

The project description for 818-822 Worcester St., reads in part: “The main goal is to minimize the overall impact on the two neighboring residential parcels. The main geometrical building mass is placed to the rear of the site as far from the existing homes as possible in order to create the maximum open space between the new and existing construction. The largest mass is placed near the mature tree line along the southern property line abutting the elementary school’s open recreational field. Additionally, existing tree lines along the residential neighbors’ borders are minimally disturbed. This area will serve as a visual landscape buffer between structures and will help screen residents’ vehicle lights and noise. The site plan calls for a new, split ingress and egress driveway with a landscaped island in between which will heighten safety for the higher speed one-way traffic along Worcester Street. The radial driveway aids in vehicle deceleration and the landscaped island provides ‘green’ screening of the new construction.”

The Town of Wellesley is working hard to get a Housing Production Plan in place to give it more control over where affordable housing is built. And that means developers will be stepping up efforts to get their projects introduced and approved as soon as possible.

A website for the Housing Production Plan is in the works, and a series of related public meetings are slated in the months ahead, with hopes for the plan’s completion in September.

MORE: Weston Road 40B plan clears hurdle, Town explores development of Wellesley Square railroad parking lots

Wellesley Housing Authority Director to speak at Rotary Club meeting

January 28, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

Paul Douchamel, Executive Director of the Wellesley and Needham Housing Authorities, will speak at the Wellesley Rotary Club’s February 6 meeting, at the Wellesley College Club.

The Wellesley Rotary Club will welcome the Executive Director of the Wellesley and Needham Housing Authorities as the speaker for the group’s February 6 meeting at the Wellesley College Club.

Stable homes = stable lives

Paul Dumouchel has over 20 years of experience in the housing industry in general and affordable housing specifically. He believes that many of society’s problems could be minimized or eliminated if people had stable homes. He is a graduate of Providence College and maintains many civic involvements. He is a Board member of the Southeastern Massachusetts Public Housing Executive Director Association and an active member of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials, serving on both the Legislative Committee and the Scholarship Committee. He is an active member of the Wellesley Kiwanis Club. Paul is active in the Roman Catholic Church and is a member of the Knights of Columbus.

Our house is a very, very, very fine house

The Rotary Club of Wellesley is one of Wellesley’s oldest community service groups and conducts local programs to benefit the Town of Wellesley. Please check the web site www.wellesleyrotary.org for times and location. The public is always invited to any Rotary program. Please make a reservation on our web site’s calendar or call 781-591- 0759 to speak with one of our board members.

A buffet meal is available for $30.00. When making a reservation, please indicate in the comments section of the registration if you will have the meal.

WHEN: Tuesday, February 6
TIME: 7pm
WHERE: Wellesley College Club, 727 Washington St, Wellesley, MA 02481

How to pay your Wellesley property taxes, right now

December 22, 2017 by Deborah Brown 5 Comments

Wellesley Town Hall, by Janice Hayes-Cha. Mixed media collage.

As has been reported by multiple news sources, the time to pay your Feb. 1 and May 1 2018 property taxes is now. As of right now, and in Wellesley that means by the Dec. 29 deadline. The rationale behind this idea generally goes like this:

Given that next year’s property and state income taxes will be limited to a $10,000 deduction, if you currently itemize, and have in excess of $10,000 in combined local property tax and state income tax, you will want to pay your third and fourth quarter taxes.

That means you should pay your Feb. 1, 2018 and May 1, 2018 taxes now so that you can deduct those taxes in 2017. Do it now, the reasoning goes, because next year you won’t be able to deduct them.

There are three ways to pay your property taxes in Wellesley:

You can pay your property taxes online.
You can pay by check and drop the payment in the mail.
If you have trust issues with snail mail, you can write out your check and run it over to the payment box in front of Town Hall, or go right in and go to the Treasure’s office downstairs and hand it to a live person. They also take cash. Do not put cash into the payment box.

Paying ahead will benefit those who pay local property taxes of $10,000 and over (which describes most homeowners in Wellesley) in addition to paying $10,000 in state income taxes for a combined $20,000. Under the new tax bill, next year you would be limited to deducting only $10,000. However, paying the second half of FY18 property taxes of $5,000 in 2017 will allow you to deduct them this year, and yield a savings equal to your tax rate.

Thus if you are at a 20% tax rate you would save 20%, or $1,000. The savings only get larger with higher tax bills and higher tax rates. You can do this even if your taxes are paid from a mortgage escrow. The reason you can do this is that the tax bill is technically due and owed now, even though we are allowed to pay in quarterly installments.

You can’t prepay and deduct payments that aren’t yet due on next year’s state income, or FY2019 property tax, so this is one-time event linked to paying off the balance of the FY2018 tax bill.

I emailed a few questions to Wellesley’s Treasurer, Marc Waldman, but got an auto response that he would be out of the office until Dec. 28, one day before all the emails and questions from residents and reporters will surely end with the deadline of Dec. 29.

So I stopped in to Wellesley Town Hall, just to feel the vibe in the air of the normally quiet tax payments office (first floor, end of the hall, take a right). I followed the crowd and walked into a scene from a movie. Phones were ringing. Town employees were multi-tasking. Property owners had their checkbooks out and were intently writing multiple loopy zeros and crisply handing over thousands of dollars, on the spot, having had very little advance heads up — and here’s the kicker — three days before Christmas. Welcome to Wellesley.

I didn’t go in for tax advice. It’s a good thing, because the incredibly efficient employee I spoke to told me, “We cannot give tax advice.”

She did confirm the payment options, however, then thanked a resident who had just handed over a payment, stamped her receipt, and wished her happy holidays.

As the old English nursery rhyme goes:

“Half a pound of tuppenny rice
Half a pound of treacle
That’s the way the money goes
Pop goes the weasel.”