For years, the three towns around Devens have faced a conundrum over how to unlock the valuable land at the former Army base so much-needed housing can be built.
Now, leaders from Shirley, Harvard, and Ayer, along with the Devens community and the Healey administration, are getting closer to a solution. They convened to discuss the issue again on Tuesday in a working group focused on a roughly 90-acre section known as the Innovation and Technology Center district — an area that includes the shuttered Vicksburg Square barracks complex.
They’re up against a tight deadline: The Legislature in November passed an economic development bill that included language creating this working group and mandating a report back within six months. State lawmakers cleared one barrier to more housing at Devens, by using that bill to remove a strict housing cap for the entire former base. Neil Angus, director of the Devens Enterprise Commission, estimates that change alone opens up about 80 acres at Devens currently zoned for housing but left empty because of the former cap.
However, Vicksburg Square and the rest of the technology center district are zoned primarily for commercial use, not housing. To allow housing there, all three towns need to agree; any rezoning needs approval at a “super town meeting,” a proceeding that involves all three towns. The hope is that the Devens working group can bring about a long-awaited compromise. The working group’s members aim to have an initial draft plan to build housing in this district ready for discussion at their next meeting on April 1. (State officials are also collecting public comments via a web portal set up for the group.)
The towns had floated one concept a year ago for rezoning Vicksburg Square for housing, but with several caveats: Half of the units would be set aside as condos, a quarter for rental apartments, and a quarter for seniors or people with special needs. The head of MassDevelopment, a quasi-public agency that acts as the Devens landlord, didn’t agree at the time, arguing it might not attract enough developer interest. But now, state economic development secretary Yvonne Hao, MassDevelopment’s chair, has a new chief executive in charge, Navjeet Bal.
Hao said she is hopeful, particularly for the future of Vicksburg Square, which is considered historic and can’t easily be demolished.
“People had strong opinions and strong points of view [but] there is a general consensus that it should be developed,” Hao said. “Having that building sit empty and abandoned, nobody wants that. It’s just a wasted opportunity.”
Angus said there are other places where housing could be built within the district. “It’s an excellent opportunity to help with the state’s housing crisis,” Angus said.
The legislative directive specifically mentions the feasibility of building up to 400 housing units across the 90 acres, but the working group isn’t expected to limit its discussions to that. Among the big questions that the group will need to confront is how best to educate kids who live in this new housing, said state Senator Jamie Eldridge, a Democrat who represents Ayer and Harvard. (Devens kids currently go to Harvard’s schools via a contract with MassDevelopment.) Other questions will surface around what portion of the new units should be deemed affordable, Eldridge said, and the right mix of rental apartments versus condos.
For now, the 4,400-acre former base is primarily an industrial park. But the success of the employers there is at least somewhat tied to whether their employees can find a place to live nearby.
“As a parent, we want to know where our kids are going to live,” said John Katter, a Devens resident. “We want to know where our police officers are going to live. The nurses, the engineers, the people who can’t afford housing now are being pushed out west. Devens has become a magnet for industry. If we’re going to continue to win, we need to accommodate not only our families, but the people who can build Devens to the potential it can be built.”
$300,000 state infusion aims to chart new course for former Devens army baseBuilding much-needed housing at the old Fort Devens seems simple. It isn’t.Housing at military bases? Developments proposed for empty properties in Devens and South Weymouth.
Comment count: