$100m Town Center project once again on building block
The Town Center project, which has been a subject of heated debate in Wayland during the past two years, is on the move again.
After twice threatening to abandon the large-scale shopping, residential, and office project, most recently in January, the developers said last week they were poised to submit a master special-permit application.
In a gesture rife with symbolism, developer Charles R. Irving, a partner with KGI Properties of Boston, last week also pulled down the tarp that had been obscuring a sign advertising the development on the Route 20 property. The tarp had been put up when Irving walked away from the town's permitting process four months ago, citing resistance to the project by a few members on key town boards.
After a town election that changed the makeup of the Planning Board and the Board of Road Commissioners, and after both boards elected new leaders, the developers say they are ready to do business with Wayland again.
"It seems to be a leadership focused on getting this done, and we're going to move forward," Irving said in a telephone interview.
Town Planner Joe Laydon said the developers told him to expect the arrival of the application soon. KGI is seeking a permit for the entire $100 million mixed-use development, which also will include space for a municipal building.
The builders have permission to construct up to 100 housing units, 155,000 square feet of retail, and 10,000 square feet of office space on the 55-acre property.
Opponents have criticized the size of the project and worry about the traffic it will draw. But proponents say the town needs a gathering space and the tax dollars that the businesses will generate.
The project was first proposed in 2005, but a zoning change that it required was defeated at Town Meeting that year. The developers then suggested they would build a residential complex with a substantial affordable housing component on the site instead.
Town leaders, citing a need for tax revenue, lured the developers back. After reducing the size of the project, KGI got a zoning article approved by Town Meeting last year.
Town boards were reviewing the project when developers backed out earlier this year.
At the time, Dean Stratouly, president of the Congress Group Inc. of Boston, which is partnering with KGI Properties, insisted the project was dead. "This isn't crying wolf. This isn't threatening," he said.
But developers said later that if the leadership on the town boards changed, the project might be revived.
Critics have questioned whether the project will be properly scrutinized by the boards, after the election of new members who have openly declared they support the project.
Irving said the master special permit application will include some changes to the design presented publicly last year. But he said the developers are staying "as close as we can" to the concept approved by the Planning Board last fall.
He said some changes have been made to the site design because of state requirements that more of the property along the Sudbury River be protected. He said the space set aside for a municipal building has been shifted because of parking issues. It will now be prominent when drivers enter the property off Route 20.
Under the master special permit application process, required by the state, a public hearing must be held within 65 days, and a decision must be issued 90 days after the hearing is completed.
The Planning Board will be responsible for considering not only the layout of the project, but also its impacts on water, waste water, traffic, and the environment.
