westwood station

Last night, the Town of Westwood's Planning Board voted to approve an amendment to the Master Plan Special Permit for Westwood Station. This amendment involved an extensive review and revision of the original Master Plan Special Permit to permit evolutions in the design of Westwood Station which have occurred since the Master Plan was originally approved last year. Now the Planning Board will focus attention on the site plan review as they consider granting Environmental Impact Design Review (EIDR) approval for Phase 1B of the proposed development.

The Planning Board meets again on December 1 at 7:30pm.

Approval of the amendment is a significant step towards final approvals that are necessary to finalize funding and begin the "vertical" construction phase of the project.

Developer presentations related to the approved amendment can be downloaded from the town website here and here.

The more open and transparent our government can be, the better. But I also think we have to ask ourselves what exactly do we want to do with the information we crave. Some is to satisfy curiosity, some is to simply reinforce preconceived notions. But in general, the open access to information helps build trust as people see that their elected officials are not afraid to share the truth.

I think it would great if our elected officials blogged regularly--not necessarily here on this site, but in general, to say, "here is what I did today, these are the issues I'm thinking about..." But being that open will mean that without the support of all the many silent folks in town, you are now open to attack and criticism from the people who make a life out of being upset about everything that might change their lives. The lesson so many have appeared to learn is that the cost to effectiveness is not worth the ideal of openness.

But there is also a question of relevance...do we really need to see all the details of what construction work is going on so that we can determine if the project is meeting our expectations? We need to elect/appoint/entrust others with that responsibility--otherwise nothing will ever be done as the people trying to solve problems are buried in the minutia of responding to everyone's questions about everything. I think we don't have that level of trust and we need to get there somehow.

This past week, I spoke with a number of people involved in the Westwood Station project. I had heard rumors of difficulty and saw annonymous posts to this site questioning whether the project was in serious jeopardy. There is little new to report as not much has changed:

• Roadwork within the site has stopped because the asphalt companies close down in mid November, so paving will not be done this year, but will resume in the spring.
• Financing of the "going vertical" phase of the project has always been contingent on receiving final approvals from the planning board. The planning board continues to review the amended Master Plan Special Permit. The next meeting of the Planning Board is November 18.
• The Wegmans situation is unchanged as Representative Galvin from Canton continues to refuse to allow the home rule petition to go through during informal session.
• With contructive participation by neighbors, traffic calming plans have been developed for the Canton Everett Forbes area, and just last week, additional fine-tuning designs were approved to solve a specific commercial access problem from Oceana Way.
• The lawsuit filed by Forbes Road residents has been settled privately; no public information is available about the amount of money involved.
• How the economy will affect the project and how significant the
  liquor license issue is for Wegmans--and even how significant Wegmans
  is as an anchor tenant--will remain matters of speculation.

Many things are going on behind the scenes. And while few have access to all the information, it is clear the people involved in making this project happen are "all in" so to speak. I will have more to update here as I confirm more facts, but as near as I can tell, no one feels the challenges facing this project are insurmountable, and the project is in better shape than most development efforts in the region.

The Board of Selectmen will meet tonight, Monday, at 7:30pm, "on location" at the Downey School to consider the final report from Urban Engineers, the company that has been working with Canton/Everett/Forbes neighborhood residents to devise traffic calming measures. The report is the product of months of neighborhood meetings and discussions. It maps out numerous engineering modifications to slow down and reduce traffic in the area--in anticipation of the increased demand for roadway use with the development of Westwood Station. The document is available online here or directly from the town website.

An article in the Sunday Globe summarized the months-long legislative saga of the Wegmans beer and wine license and how that relates to the special Town Meeting on Tuesday and quoted Town Administrator Michael Jaillet:

The truth is, we don't know how this will affect things," said Town Administrator Michael Jaillet. "We will need to explain in detail how [the Town Meeting and legislative debates] are interrelated.

I hope we do not spend hours at Town Meeting speculating about Wegmans, Westwood Station, and what Representative Galvin from Canton will do next or what other surprises might happen. For me, the bottom line is that what we voted on this spring was bad policy and I think Article 1 is good policy. If the Wegman's bill fails to get approved, then they can use one of the 3 licenses authorized by Article 1.

We can't control what is going on in the legislature, or in the minds of potential tenants of Westwood Station, or the financial markets. So I think we should make a clear statement, without equivocation, that we either support beer and wine sales in food stores, or we oppose it.

Nevertheless, I decided to make a "decision matrix" here of the possible outcomes:

I suppose there are some people who would only vote for Article 1 because they think Article 18 was unfair...but they would rather see no alcohol at all. So if you think Wegmans will ultimately fail, you might feel "safe" voting your true feelings. Even though I strongly support Article 1, I hope there are not many people who feel they are in that dilemma. If you really think the alcohol is so bad, then I'd say vote your conscience on that and let things sort themselves out.

We can't predict what future surprises await. We should answer the questions in front of us--not try to figure out the most strategic vote.

According to the Daily News Transcript, Representative Paul McMurtry is ready to shut down all legislative business until the home rule petition for the Wegmans beer and wine license is approved. Another option would be to gather up 81 members, establish a quorum and vote on this thing once and for all. Would it really be so hard to get a quorum? Would it be easier to approve the matter when Canton Representative Galvin is not around? I'm not clear on how this all works, but it seems to me the approach Galvin is using is akin to a fillibuster, and he should be required to stand there on the floor of the House nonstop if he really wants to keep this matter from passing.

This morning, David F suggested,

I think we should start opening discussions on a 5 man BOS instead of 3...It is time for certain fundamental changes to happen in town...My first idea is what do other residents think of a 5 man BOS instead of 3. Is this project just to big for a 3 man BOS to handle? 

I'd like to hear what people think too. My feeling is that the problem is regional, that we need an administrative body--not just an advisory committee or something, but some kind of official government entity with the power to negotiate directly with the developer and perhaps streamline zoning and planning decisions. The Westwood Station project is in a "mixed use overlay district" (MUOD) which is a device used in planning and zoning to provide more flexible uses than standard Euclidean zoning, but I think we need a regional impact area overlay, with a board of commissioners comprised of representatives from Dedham, Westwood, Canton, and Norwood, at least. The closest analogy I can think of in politics was the Base Closing Commission that Congress used to decide which military bases to close. Furthermore, the work of such a commission is not done once the project starts, but continues to function as issues arise over time.

I don't know if more selectmen in Westwood helps. The people who are causing us "grief" are not in Westwood. The most affected people in Westwood are outvoted. Wouldn't 5 selectmen just be more of the same?

Westwood Station dispute escalates -

Tensions in the House over a development bill boiled over Tuesday morning when a state representative from Canton stunned his colleagues by cursing on the House rostrum and minutes later blocked final passage of legislation important to Westwood Station. 

The article in the Canton Journal fails to print the precise words Representative Galvin used, but it does not take a rocket scientist to fill in the blanks. In another unfortunate choice of words, developer Jay Doherty was repeatedly quoted as being "bemused" by Galvin's profane outburst. "Confused" would have been a better choice of words although technically the word "bemused" is different from "amused"--but still it smacks of a haughty attitude. That attitude no doubt fuels the self-immolative fires of paranoia and persecution that seem to consume those who cast themselves as the victims of all-powerful Westwood and the evil developers who seek to convert an industrial wasteland into a poster-city for smart growth.

Where is the leadership? Where is the vision for a future that benefits us all? How many more little fights like this are going to happen? There has got to be a better way.

As we await resolution of the Wegmans alcohol license issue, and with many development projects in Boston stalled due to the national credit crisis, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at University Ave and see what has been done so far in breaking ground for Westwood Station.

University Ave has been re-routed so that it curves away from its former path. A retaining wall has been constructed near Blue Hill Ave. Most of the old industrial buildings have been razed. But what remains is essentially many piles of dirt. I'll upload a whole slide show of photos when I can find something interesting to take a picture of...

The Daily News Transcript reports progress from the meeting yesterday to discuss Canton's concerns with Westwood Station traffic. The meeting included Representatives McMurtry and Galvin, CC&F developer Jay Doherty, Canton Selectman Robert Burr Jr., and House Speaker Sal Dimasi. McMurtry concluded: "It's a truce almost." "Westwood and Canton have to partner in order for this to be successful," he said.