Stratouly says he's quitting project
Cites resistance by town boards
The developer of the Town Center project in Wayland says he's abandoning his mixed-use proposal because he doesn't think he'll get a fair shake from the town boards evaluating it.
The developer, Dean Stratouly, who threatened to scrap the project in a meeting last week with town boards on traffic issues, said in an interview that he believes several members of the Board of Road Commissioners and the Planning Board are going to block his proposal.
"It became obvious... that neither board was anxious to see this project become a reality," said Stratouly, president of the Congress Group Inc., which has been partnering with KGI Properties, both of Boston, on the $100 million project. "I reached the point of ultimate frustration and exhaustion."
The chairwoman of the Planning Board, Lynne Dunbrack, said the board is simply scrutinizing the project to make sure it's right for Wayland.
"We have a responsibility to the town as elected officials to be sure that the project will work for the town. That means looking at all the details," she said.
Mark Santangelo, chairman of the Board of Road Commissioners, defended his board's work, saying, "This is a large project, and it has to go through a lot of scrutiny and a lot of focus. I don't think it's unreasonable."
The developers have proposed a mix of housing, office, and retail space on a 55-acre property off Route 20. Recent plans had featured a municipal building such as a library, a 2-acre town green, a grocery store, up to 100 condominiums, and streets lined with shops, restaurants, and offices.
This isn't the first time Stratouly has threatened to drop the project. After voters in November 2005 rejected a zoning change for the project, he said he would pursue a housing development on the former
Selectmen worked with the Planning Board on zoning changes that would allow a scaled-down project capable of satisfying the concerns of both boards as well as the developers. The new zoning was approved last year.
Since then, Stratouly says, the road commissioners and the Planning Board have been so focused on minutiae that they are "almost dysfunctional."
Selectmen said they tried to address Stratouly's concerns by hosting joint meetings with the Planning Board.
Since Stratouly's unexpected announcement, the selectmen have lashed out at the Planning Board. Chairman Joseph F. Nolan criticized the Planning Board for being "process-oriented" and for its "overanalysis."
He said Dunbrack, who voted against recommending the proposed zoning change to Town Meeting last May, "has not enthusiastically moved this process along."
"It's been like pulling teeth," he said.
Selectman Michael Tichnor said Stratouly has a valid concern that his project couldn't receive a fair, expeditious hearing.
"It's as if a handful of officials are thwarting the will of the vast majority of town," Tichnor said.
More than 80 percent of voters at the Special Town Meeting in May voted to approve the zoning change for the project. Supporters noted that the town would receive a $3.03 million payment from the developers and hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue each year.
Dunbrack said her volunteer board has met countless hours -- as many as three nights a week in sessions that routinely run past midnight. Sometimes it has met on weekends and holidays.
"No one would put in the hours we have if we weren't serious about accomplishing the goal," she said. "I think the Planning Board has been doing everything we can to move this project forward."
Late in the fall, she said, her board determined that the concept plan submitted by developers "substantially complied" with town bylaws. She said the board did that even though the developers had submitted the traffic plan for the project five months late.
The Planning Board has been waiting for the developers to submit their master special permit application, the detailed plan for the project, she said. Stratouly had promised it would be submitted by Nov. 1.
Nolan said he is considering ways to salvage the Town Center project.
"I think it would be a damn shame if we can't make this happen," Nolan said.
But Stratouly insisted that the project is dead.
"This isn't crying wolf. This isn't threatening," he said. "There are a handful of people that aren't interested in seeing that project come forward, and I understand. I get it. I hear what they're saying."
