Wayland officials offer mixed-use alternative
WAYLAND -- Town officials have hatched a plan for a significantly smaller Town Center project, hoping it will win the approval both of Wayland residents and the project's developers.
The Board of Selectmen and Planning Board are preparing to present the pared-down project next week to the developers, who abandoned their original mixed-use project in favor of a housing development after being shot down by Town Meeting voters in November.
The original proposal, a combination of shops, offices, and housing on the former
Dean Stratouly, president of the Congress Group Inc. of Boston, one of the developers, said at first glance he likes their new plan for a residential development better than the town's proposal.
''I think we have more certainty in the process" and a better profit margin with the housing plan, he said.
However, Stratouly said, he would have to analyze Wayland's proposal and discuss it with the Congress Group's partner, Streetscape, a subsidiary of KGI Properties of Boston.
''We'd have to look at it in total and see whether it would make sense," Stratouly said. ''I'm just very reluctant to even open discussion, because I just don't think we can get through the process in a timely fashion."
The Board of Selectmen had unanimously endorsed the original project, which promised the town millions of dollars in incentives, despite concerns from some residents that roads would be clogged with traffic. The Planning Board voted to oppose the zoning changes, saying the town wasn't adequately protected.
Last week, after heated discussion, the two boards agreed that they could support a project that was 21 percent smaller than the original.
The compromise project of 35,500 square feet would include 150,000 square feet of retail and office space, rather than 200,000; and 16,500 square feet of housing, rather than 210,000, or 120 units. The project would have a smaller grocery store and more smaller stores than the original proposal. Both proposals also would include a 40,000-square-foot municipal building.
Selectmen want to streamline the approval process for the developers, while Planning Board members want the project to undergo the usual permitting that the developer last year found restrictive and vowed not to endure again.
Larry Stabile, chairman of the Planning Board, said, ''Just because they said they won't do that, doesn't mean they won't do it." He said it would be unfair to change the rules for one developer.
Coming to a compromise on a new size for the development was a difficult task for the two boards.
After a Jan. 4 meeting, selectmen thought they had forged an agreement on the size of the project. But members of the Planning Board last week said they wanted the project to be even smaller, citing concerns it would draw shoppers from around the region.
Selectmen chairman Michael Tichnor expressed frustration that a deal he thought sealed had come undone between meetings.
''I'm a bit perplexed," said Tichnor, who rolled his eyes, crossed his arms, and rubbed his brow during the discussion at last Thursday's meeting.
Tichnor, a developer, has said repeatedly that he thinks the mixed-use project would be good for the town because of the mitigation payments from the developers and the taxes that would be generated.
Selectman William Whitney, who led the negotiations with the developer last fall, managed to forge the compromise between the two boards by the end of the meeting.
