Officials hope to save big project

Town officials are trying to resuscitate the controversial Wayland Town Center project while the developers watch warily from the sidelines.

Selectmen have asked the Planning Board to help determine how big the project should be, seeking to address the concerns of residents about the project's size.

''We're not willing to give up on this yet," said Michael Tichnor, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, who said he hopes to bring a new proposal before voters at a special Town Meeting in April.

The Congress Group Inc. of Boston and Streetscape, a division of KGI Properties of Boston, had partnered to propose the largest development in the town's history, a mix of housing, retail, and office space.

But a zoning bylaw change needed for the project failed to pass at a November Town Meeting. The change received 745 of 1,364 votes, or 55 percent, less than the two-thirds majority required.

Developers have said they are now planning to build an affordable-housing project on the Route 20 site. One was skeptical about the possibility of reviving the mixed-use development.

''I would say that the likelihood of that is minimal at this point," said Dean Stratouly, founder of The Congress Group.

But Frank Dougherty, project manager for Streetscape, said he is interested in seeing what the town proposes.

''We think the town needs to independently be comfortable with what program they want on that site," he said. ''We spent most of last year trying to reach consensus with the town boards, and we were not successful."

As the November Town Meeting approached, the Planning Board voted unanimously against recommending the zoning change, even though it had spent months working on it. Several other town boards followed suit. Selectmen, meanwhile, unanimously supported it.

Some residents expressed concerns about the impact of the 410,000-square-foot project on local roads and on the town's waste-water treatment system. They also said the project review was too rushed and the revenue the project would raise for the town had been overstated.

Larry Stabile, chairman of the Planning Board, said his board believes that a mixed-use development is probably in the town's best interest, rather than a state-approved affordable-housing development in which the town might have little say.

The Planning Board will begin discussing next week what members would want to see on the site. Stabile said he also wants to determine more precisely what the financial impact would be on the town. The board may decide to seek help from a consultant, he said.

The Planning Board and Board of Selectmen will meet in the first week of January to discuss the project. Stabile said it is important to involve all town boards and attempt to find consensus.

''If one of them is against it, then going in to Town Meeting is going to be a long shot," he said. ''The idea is to really work closely together to make sure we are in harmony on this, which didn't happen this last around."

Tichnor said it is important to get the issue before voters in April because if the town waits longer, the developer could be too far down the path pursuing the affordable-housing complex.

Stabile said he was not sure the Planning Board could meet that deadline.

In order to submit a warrant article for the special Town Meeting, which would likely be held at the same time as the regularly scheduled Town Meeting in April, the article would need to be crafted by late February.

Tichnor said he wants to preserve the $3.03 million payment that was promised to the town in an agreement between selectmen and developers.

Joseph F. Nolan, vice chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said he believed the affordable-ousing project the developers are pursuing would cost the town more money because it would attract families with children who would attend public schools.

He said that, as public servants, selectmen owe it to the town to try to come up with a proposal that both the residents and the developer can live with.

But he wondered if the effort to revive the original project might be doomed.

''Frankly, this ship may have sailed," he said. ''The developer may not be willing to work with the town at all."