Lawsuits hit plan on traffic fears
Officials, developer stand by Town Center
Officials in Wayland and the developer of a proposed $140 million Town Center project are standing by the proposal after two lawsuits were filed against it by the Town of Sudbury and neighbors of the project.
The lawsuits, both filed in Middlesex Superior Court, say there are serious traffic problems that have not been addressed by developers and Wayland officials during three years of planning and deliberations for the project. The development would bring new businesses, condominiums, apartments, and a 2-acre town green to the intersection of routes 20 and 27. The suits seek to nullify a special permit approved by Wayland's Planning Board on Jan. 18.
Wayland selectmen were quick to defend the project, and stated in an announcement last week that the lawsuits are hurting their efforts to expand the town's commercial tax base. The selectmen said the project would "contribute significant new property tax revenue" for Wayland, and would actually decrease traffic into Sudbury by providing local shops and restaurants for the town's residents.
Meanwhile, officials from Twenty Wayland LLC, the developer, expressed a desire to move on with the project.
"The Planning Board's decision was rendered in accordance with the law and we expect it to prevail on the merits," said Frank Dougherty, project manager for Twenty Wayland. "We look forward to resolving the appeals and proceeding with the project."
Both town officials and the developer have said that traffic concerns were addressed in the planning process.
Sudbury filed its lawsuit on Jan. 31, naming Twenty Wayland and the individual members of the Wayland Planning Board as defendants. With the Board of Selectmen serving as Sudbury's representatives, its lawsuit states that the Town Center project would create a "clear and substantial impact to traffic on the surrounding roads," that officials from Wayland and Twenty Wayland were aware of the traffic problems, and that nothing was done to mitigate them.
The second lawsuit was filed Feb. 6 by 13 residents of Glezen Lane, a narrow side street close to the Town Center site that they see as likely to bear the brunt of increased traffic by the development. Sudbury's town counsel, Paul Kenny, said the community's lawsuit is not designed to impede the progress of the Town Center project, but to make Wayland deal with serious, unaddressed traffic concerns.
"The project has a clear impact on traffic, and we did our best to express serious concerns about it during the public hearings and the process, including submitting written documentations," Kenny said. "The problem here should have been addressed by the developer. I think they are addressing traffic in Wayland, but Route 20 doesn't just stop right there at the border, and it's a serious concern. It's a major development and they should take those things into consideration."
In their statement, Wayland's selectmen sharply criticized Sudbury, saying the neighboring community's officials were aware of the months of planning meetings and public forums and only attended one. They also cited Sudbury's own development projects, including almost 230 new and rebuilt housing units, in the past several years that they say contribute to traffic through Wayland.
"At no time did any representatives from Sudbury express any serious reservations about the proposal, nor was any traffic analyses provided to document any additional strain on this intersection as a result of the Town Center development," Wayland selectmen stated. "The decision is antithetical to the longstanding open, cooperative, and collegial relationship between our two communities."
In response, Sudbury counsel Kenny said his town "isn't trying to attack the town of Wayland. The reason we did it this way is because we had no alternative. We didn't know the decision was going to be filed. It was filed, and we only had a short period of time in which to appeal it."
In their lawsuit, the Glezen Lane residents also contend that the town and developer failed to address and remedy their traffic concerns, and say that there is already too much traffic on their street from commuters and trucks cutting through to avoid rush-hour delays on Route 27.
"Traffic increases of even a fraction of these expected to be generated by the project . . . would significantly and adversely impact" the neighborhood, the suit states.
Jeffrey L. Roelofs, a lawyer for the Glezen Lane residents, said they are suing to get the town and the developer to come up with a comprehensive plan to deal with the traffic problems that they say would be caused by the Town Center development, particularly in their neighborhood.
"To date, no comprehensive traffic mitigation plan has been developed to address those impacts," Roelofs said. "My clients appealed the Planning Board's decision to protect their rights." 