Above: Nine years ago, Park Central 40B hearings opened with a big crowd of concerned residents and more ZBA members than ultimately ruled on the decision. The Select Board hopes that a volunteer will step up to ensure that five members oversee the hearings this time around. (photo by Beth Melo, image cropped from Town flyer.)
On Friday morning, the Select Board promoted an alternate member of the Zoning Board of Appeals to fill the seat of a full time member who resigned.
In that discussion, the board noted the need for a volunteer to be appointed soon in order for five members to sit on the Park Central 40B permit hearings opening on October 11th.
According to Andrew Dennington, the newly promoted member (Jamie Mieth) plans to recuse herself from the Park Central hearings. And, as I previously advertised, the ZBA was already short one alternate. With Mieth’s promotion, both alternate seats are vacant.
Dennington stated that the vacancy Mieth was filling was Craig Nicholson’s seat. After seven years on the board, Nicholson recently resigned as he prepared to move out of town.
At Friday’s meeting, Dennington noted that under the law, a ZBA member can serve on the hearings if they miss one meeting. (The member must attest to having caught up on what they missed.) That means a newly appointed Alternate could sit on the Park Central decision, even if they are appointed after October 11th, as long as they are appointed before the next session takes place.
Assistant Town Administrator told the board that they were looking through their “general volunteer applications to see if anyone has a skill set that would be ideal”.
The Town did attempt to recruit members in July. (You can read about the skill set they are looking for here.) If you’d like to apply for the seat, click here.
Park Central Project
Last year, the court threw out the ZBA’s approval of two housing projects on the Park Central parcel, between Flagg Road and Park Central Drive. The judge determined that in its 2016 permit approval, the board had improperly intertwined a 40B (for condos with some affordable units) and non-40B project (for townhouses without any affordable units).
Last summer, the developer submitted for a new 40B-only project. It calls for developing two 4-5 story buildings looming over the neighborhood of Tara and Bantry roads.
In February, Mass Housing approved Capital Group Properties’ submission as eligible for applying under the state 40B laws. At the time, they acknowledged Town officials’ concerns about the project. But they advised that those should be handled through the hearing process.
Park Central Hearing & Limited attendance
On September 20th, the Town posted, under a ZBA News Flash, a Notice of Public Hearing on The Residences at Park Central. (You can read that here.)
The hearings will open on the 200 unit condo development on Wednesday, October 11th at 7:00 pm over zoom. This morning, the Town posted clarifying detail that the hearing will also be available to attend in-person at the Public Safety Building Training Room at 32 Cordaville Road. But the notice warns that room only has a maximum capacity for 49 audience members.
When the original 2014 hearings opened it was standing room only in the Town House Hearing Room (which has larger attendee capacity).
History of ZBA ruling on Park Central without Five Members
The last time the Park Central 40B went through the ZBA approval process, the hearings began with five members but were eventually whittled down to 3 after one member recused himself under pressure from the developer and another member moved out of town before the process was completed. That left three members hearing the matter.
An applicant can ask the board to restart the hearing process with more members, but in this case it was the public that was upset over just three members making the decision.
The number of members involved added to controversies over the ZBA’s process. The board ultimately made a late night decision that opponents publicly argued was being rushed, the night prior to one of the members (David Eagle) closed on his house, officially moving out of town.
Resident Marnie Hoolahan later led a Citizen Petition effort to revise ZBA bylaws, including to codify that quorum for ZBA hearings require four members. She succeeded in getting the votes, but it was watered down by a decision from the Attorney General’s office.
The AG’s office struck one section relating to a four member quorum but left another in. Although not added as language in the bylaw, instructions from the Assistant AG specified that a three person quorum would apply to 40B hearings under state law.
Park Central Hearing Materials and Notice
The ZBA has posted materials related to the Park Central application here, including a September 18th appendix to the original application. (To check for any changes to the agenda or additional materials for the meeting packet, click here.)
The hearing notice was published in MetroWest Daily News on September 27th. Seven days prior, a News Flash was added to the Town website to notify the public. However, the rollout of the new website complicated getting the word out to those trying to follow ZBA news.**
Those who selected receiving ZBA Agendas were notified this afternoon, when the agenda was first posted.
ZBA Quorum Policy Issue (for non-40B hearings)
In the spring, the ZBA approved a new policy stating that three members constitute a Sitting Quorum. Hoolahan has in public comments to the Select Board raised the issue, stating that it violates Town bylaws. At their September 19th meeting, she told the Select Board that the ZBA Chair stated the policy had been written with help by Town Counsel Jay Talerman.* Dennington said he would look into the matter. Last week, he informed me that it will be addressed at their October 10th meeting.
*It’s worth noting that at the Special Town Meeting where the Citizen Petition bylaw changes were passed, Talerman acted as Special Town Counsel to argue against the legality to voters. After the vote, Talerman wrote to the AG, opposing approval of the bylaw. Hoolahan publicly objected to the Town’s handling, pointing out that she hadn’t been notified of the actions of Town Counsel and Special Counsel, and the Town hadn’t included the legal opinion she had obtained supporting the bylaw wording.
**After residents were publicly encouraged to sign up for the alerts in mid-May, new categories of notifications were apparently added, including the ZBA News Flashes. . (And no alert was sent notifying of new categories.) The specialized categories aren’t posted on the Home page or sent to those who signed up for notifications by administration. So early adopters of notifications were left in the dark.
Updated (10/3/23 11:23 am): I fixed the misspelling of Marnie Hoolahan’s name.
