Reversing sprawl in Hudson
Third in a series
HUDSON IS one of many aging mill towns in Massachusetts where most housing growth has occurred away from the town center, leaving many downtown buildings underutilized. Not only does this require additional roads and sewer and water lines, it means that residents are dependent on their cars for virtually all errands. Plus, the lawns of such homes increase demand on the town's water supply. Last year, Hudson voters took a step to reverse decades of such development patterns and approved a zoning bylaw that would encourage new residential development where it makes the most sense: right in the center of town.
Hudson's center clusters on the Assabet River, which once provided power to the town's tanneries, shoe-leather mills, box factories, machine shops, and dye makers. The town's name changes chronicle its history. Originally called simply Mills, it was later known as Feltonville after 19th century businessman Silas Felton, and it only became Hudson in the 1860s after Charles Hudson donated $500 for the establishment of a public library. A devastating fire in 1894 destroyed about 40 buildings, including mills, but many owners rebuilt.
Four mill building complexes are now the target of the new zoning law, which created an Adaptive Reuse Overlay District.
The law makes it easier for the mill owners to turn the buildings into mixed-use centers of both residential units and commercial enterprises. Depending on how the owners develop the sites, they could create as many as 351 new housing units, and the zoning change stipulates that 15 percent of them be affordable. Admirably, the town is pushing for more affordable housing even though it already meets the 10 percent threshold required by state law.
The mill complexes were originally to be part of a much bigger project under the state's 40R "smart-growth" program, in which communities qualify for state subsidies for residential developments near public transportation facilities or in town centers. The project could have yielded about $750,000 in subsidies, but the town's wastewater treatment facility could not handle the sewage of the nearly 600 units in that proposal, so town planners scaled down and won overwhelming town-meeting approval for the adaptive reuse district instead.
Paul W. Blazar, Hudson's executive assistant, said the smaller project could also have been done under the terms of 40R, thus winning the town subsidies from the state, but the town decided that the density requirements of 40R were too restrictive. "The smaller size project was more appropriate to our needs," he said. It "fit better the size of our community."
Blazar acknowledges that conversion of the buildings into residences might be stalled by the current downturn in the housing market. But he is confident that owners will eventually take advantage of the law. "We're in a pretty good location," he said. Hudson is 28 miles west of Boston, with easy access to I-495. Even closer are Framingham to the southeast and Worcester to the west. Route 2 is just a few miles to the north.
With limits set on what the town water treatment plant can discharge into the Assabet, future growth in the town's sewered areas could require in-ground dispersal of treated water. In effect, the town would create a large septic leaching field with underground "recharge galleries." According to Martin Pillsbury of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, such dispersal is "not inexpensive," but is increasingly seen as a way for communities to handle their waste water locally instead of sending it downstream.
The other alternative for residential growth is in the sections of town that are not sewered and rely on individual septic systems. According to Michelle Ciccolo, the town's director of community development, about 30 percent of Hudson's homes use septic systems.
In recent years, the town has taken other steps to make its downtown more appealing. The 5-mile long Assabet River Rail Trail connects the downtown with Marlborough, and has become a popular recreation site for walkers, bicyclists, and skaters.
The town has also added a skate-boarding park to a downtown bocce court area near the Assabet and a canal. A walkway along the canal is lined with period light posts, which have also been installed along the town's Main Street. The town has secured facade-improvement grants for several of its downtown buildings. Businesses themselves have also chipped in, helping to landscape the rotary in the town's center and installing flower boxes along an alley connecting Main Street and South Street.
The lesson of Hudson is that, with good leadership, smart growth can occur without recourse necessarily to the carrots of the state's 40R smart growth law. The town's overlay district could lay the groundwork for new housing, both affordable and market rate, in a part of the state with considerable potential for growth. 