Town Meeting has approved a revised Traffic Monitoring and Mitigation Agreement (TMMA), allowing developers to proceed with redevelopment plans for the McLean property.
The vote, 192-25-5, followed two and a half hours of presentation and debate, which included two attempts to call the question and a failed amendment to delay the vote to allow more time for vetting and negotiation regarding Zone 4 of the McLean Hospital district.
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“I’m in favor of a friendly 40B,” said Town Meeting member Mary Lewis, who represents Precinct 1. “There are a lot of areas that have traffic issues, and we should not be using one traffic chokehold as a reason to hold up a development that will bring tax revenue and affordable housing to town.”
Chapter 40B is a state statute that enables local Zoning Boards of Appeals to approve affordable housing developments under flexible rules if at least 20-25% of the units have long-term affordability restrictions, according to mass.gov. In the case of a friendly 40B, the developer and town work to achieve a united vision.
The redevelopment of the McLean land began in 1999, when the Select Board and McLean struck a deal, allowing the land to be rezoned. Northland Residential Corp. is redeveloping the land, which already includes 111 townhomes they built as The Woodlands in 2010.
In 1999, potential uses of the land included residential development, a continuing care or senior living development, or some type of hospital/institutional development. According to Select Board Chair Roy Epstein, the TMMA was drawn up to manage the anticipated traffic those projects would generate, but over 25 years, “very little happened.” The Woodlands at Belmont Hill was developed; however, those townhouses were not covered by the TMMA.
In 2020, Town Meeting approved zoning that would allow up to 150 residential units in Zone 3, a Senior Living Subdistrict of the McLean district. Subdistrict A would include 40 age-restricted townhomes, of which 15% (six units) would be affordable to households with 80% area median income (AMI). Subdistrict B would include 110 rental apartments with 53 age-restricted units and 57 non-age-restricted units. Of those, 20% (22 units) would be affordable to households with 80% AMI, and 5% (six units) would be affordable to households with 50% AMI.
According to Precinct 3 Town Meeting member Rachel Heller, who is also a member of the Housing Trust, the development would help Belmont achieve “Safe Harbor” status, which means the town can reject development that doesn’t align with its housing plans and goals.
Town Engineer Glenn Clancy explained that in 1999, there were two sections—one addressing monitoring and the other addressing mitigation.
“The 1999 TMMA has become an impediment to development,” he said. “Though the developer of Zone 3 can abide by the 1999 restrictions, investors are reluctant to support the project. … The investors looked at the wording in the monitoring section … What this says is if ever there comes a time you can’t [live under the volume limits in the agreement], the worst case scenario is the town could come in and start taking parking space away from those residential property owners.”
The revised agreement eliminates the potential $10,000 payment if traffic volumes are exceeded in Zones 3 and 4 and removes traffic volume limits for those zones. It would also require McLean to upgrade the traffic signal at Mclean Drive and Mill Street by June 30, 2026 and stipulate a new signalized intersection for Olmsted Drive and Pleasant Street within 12 months of receipt of approvals from the Select Board.
Improvement to the Mill Street signal would be funded using the $110,000 McLean owes Belmont from its 1999 agreement and an additional $100,000 payment.
Precinct 3 Town Meeting member Jolanta Eckert, however, expressed concern about eliminating traffic limits and recourse actions for Zone 3 and Zone 4. Eckert, an abutter to the project, proposed the amendment to delay the vote.
Other residents in agreement with Eckert argued that the revised agreement removed the oversight tools used by the Planning Board and that waiting until a fall Town Meeting would give the town more time to hear what McLean is planning for the property.
Town Meeting member Marty Bitner, meanwhile, voiced his support for the revised agreement and opposition to the delay proposed in Eckert’s amendment. Bitner, who is a member of the Energy Committee, commended Dawley’s commitment to pursuing sustainable development.
“From a sustainability perspective, you could not ask for a more friendly developer,” Bitner said. “I would ask that people who support sustainable development in town disapprove of the amendment and support the main motion.”
Precinct 1 Town Meeting member Adam Dash addressed concerns for traffic in the area as development occurs.
“We need the development to help resolve our structural deficit, get us into safe harbor … and traffic is going to be part of that. We did a town-wide traffic study a few years ago; it showed that a good chunk of our traffic is cut through. I’m not willing to put us in jeopardy and risk development going away so other people in other towns can zip easily through Belmont.”
He said delaying the article would “kill the project,” leaving the town “vulnerable to hostile 40B development.”
“If we’re going to oppose development because of abutter and traffic concerns, how are we going to develop anything?” he said. “We’re going to have the MBTA Communities Act coming up soon, which is going to unlock areas for further development, which I’m sure abutters are going to have legitimate issues with. As you know, with projects we’ve had, there have been abutter issues with everything … it always comes up, yet we manage to move forward, and we persevere for the greater good.”
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story had the incorrect timeline for traffic signal upgrades and installations. The new agreement requires McLean to upgrade the traffic signal at McLean Drive and Mill Street by June 30, 2026 and install a new signalized intersection for Olmsted Drive and Pleasant Street within 12 months of receipt of approvals from the Select Board.
