Housing plan draws critics' ire
A plan to build more than 700 housing units near the town's commuter rail station will go before Kingston voters at Town Meeting this spring. Although the deal could net the town $2.7 million in grants, opponents are questioning both the process behind the proposal and the size of the project.
The money — the state's reward for "smart growth" projects near mass transit — is "a bribe," said Dennis Randall, a Planning Board member.
Smart growth should be "community driven," he said, but "the proposed district has been designed to meet the needs of the developer." And, he and others argue, the proposed development is far too urban in its design for Kingston's small-town character.
The Planning Board will open a public hearing on the project on Feb. 12, giving critics their first public opportunity to object to the proposal, which calls for retail and office space as well as housing. It is being put forth by Thorndike Development of Norton.
Proponents say the site — 106 acres of blighted sand pit near a railroad station and a waste-water treatment plant — is ripe for development. "This piece of property shows up from space," said Town Planner Tom Bott. "What an opportunity. Someone is going to develop it."
The town has rejected plans for dense development around the rail station before. To prepare the way for this project, Town Meeting voters will be asked in April to rezone a large property to conform with the state's Chapter 40R affordable-housing law and create what would be called the "1021 Kingston's Place Smart Growth District."
Before now, developments have been proposed under the state's Chapter 40B affordable-housing law, which allows developers to bypass local zoning.
Chapter 40R was designed to correct the flaws of 40B by offering communities "a carrot" — in the form of grants — and more control over how the property will be developed, Bott said. By building dense developments near mass transit, the thinking goes, "smart growth" reduces suburban sprawl and dependence on cars.
The 40R scenario pays communities $600,000 when a housing project of 500 or more units receives its local subdivision permit. The town also receives an additional $3,000 over 10 years for each unit after the project receives a building permit.
If the Thorndike Development project goes ahead, the town would also get a new road to help relieve the bottleneck to the commuter rail station, an expansion of the town's waste-water treatment plant, and a new well — all paid for by the developer.
The affordable-housing law requires 20 percent of the units to be affordable, about 144 in this project. Those additional units would boost the town's affordable-housing stock, which is currently below 4 percent, to the state's goal of 10 percent, Bott said. If a community meets the 10 percent standard, it is exempt from Chapter 40B.
For the 40R project to go ahead, the Board of Selectmen had to put it before Town Meeting, which it voted last spring to do. "Selectmen did not take a position," said Town Administrator Kevin Donovan. "The board felt placing the proposal on the warrant was part of the process."
The smart-growth district zoning proposal was developed by the planning department and consultant Concord Square, which specializes in 40R projects, Bott said. Its specifics were discussed in a series of Planning Board meetings televised to help keep residents informed. A separate town committee worked on standards spelling out what could be built in the proposed district.
Bott said all Chapter 40R proposals are developer- initiated because communities need upfront money to fund studies to show they meet the provisions of the law — money towns can't afford. "We will spend $80,000" from Thorndike to conduct the studies, Bott said.
A two-thirds vote by the April 9 open Town Meeting will be needed to approve the smart-growth district. Town Meeting will also take up a related measure to allow a direct access highway ramp for the district to be built on town land. The new highway connection would also serve the rail station.
It remains to be seen whether the proponents or critics will hold sway.
Randall agreed the site of the proposed development is blighted as a result of gravel removal — he called it "a moonscape" — but argued that Thorndike's proposal "does nothing to control growth in Kingston."
And, he said, the project offers a vision of "complete urbanization," ignoring the town's character.
"Kingston's a growing community, but it's always had a rural small-town flavor," he said. While "stretching at the seams, it's still essentially a small town."
Robert Knox can be contacted at rc.knox@gmail.com.
