🔨 Updated Housing Map Released
Water & Sewer Hearing Held | Community Events | The Civic Week Ahead
Good evening, Framingham.
Pardon the one day delay this week. I returned from Washington, D.C., last night, and there was no time to complete this week’s missive.
I want to take a moment to remember former Selectwoman Ginger Esty who recently passed away. Ginger served on the Board of Selectmen from 2000-2012. She was a huge champion of environmental issues, especially on the issue of General Chemical.
As former Selectman Jason Smith said to me, “She fought for every neighborhood that needed help. She was a class act.” I couldn’t agree more.
Rest easy, Ginger. Thank you for your service.
Administration Proposes New Draft of Zoning Plan
Amidst public (well justified) outcry about plans to comply with the state zoning act, the Sisitsky Administration made changes to their proposal last week. Discussion about the plans and a referral to the Planning Board are on tonight’s Council agenda.
Where We Left Off: The Council kept their public hearing open. Meeting again on Monday, November 4, the three hour meeting included more public comment along with comments from the Councilors. By the end of the meeting, Chair Phil Ottaviani remarked “more process is better”. The hearing remains open while the Administration reviews further parcels, and Ottaviani suggested the attorney for the Nobscot parcel meet with the neighbors and “Councilor Long and Sarki can coordinate”.
Nobscot Discussed in 2023: Nobscot was under consideration for zoning in the fall of 2023, though it wasn’t included in the official proposal until 10 months later. In the background materials of the canceled (due to technical issues) November 7 Council meeting is a letter from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities in response to Sarkis Sarkisian, on behalf of Mayor Sisitsky, requesting an advisory opinion as to whether the 31 acre area in Nobscot is an eligible location under the Zoning Act.
“It is our opinion that the Subject Area, by virtue of its proximity to the Nobscot Village District mixed-use commercial area, as well as the availability of public transit and municipal water and sewer, is a highly suitable location for a multi-family zoning district.”
“Based upon these considerations, it is our opinion that the Subject Area is a highly suitable location for residential multi-family development. It therefore qualifies as an “eligible location” as defined in the Zoning Act. We have reached this opinion based on the information provided by you on behalf of the Mayor, which, for purposes of this advisory opinion, we have assumed is accurate and complete.”
New proposal: The Planning Board was scheduled to meet last Thursday, November 14. The Sisitsky Administration’s new proposal was on their agenda. Due to a scheduling conflict, the Planning Board meeting was canceled.
Here is a breakdown of what is new:
Creates zoning for 4,634 total units
279 more units than the 4,355 required units
38 more units than the September proposal of 4,596 units
The old State Lumber property in Saxonville is removed, in its place is the Pinefield Shopping Plaza for 133 units, 20 units an acre at 6.7 acres
Downtown expanded from 70 acres to 95.7 acres, with 2,253 units up from 2,100 units.
MOD-1 is 1701 units at 25 units an acre with 3.5 story buildings. MOD-2 is 552 units at 20 units an acre with 2.5 stories.
The zoning map now includes the Bancroft apartments, Alta Union House, the new construction at Daniel’s Table, as a way to “get credit” for those projects, and all of the buildings on Concord and Union neighboring the Memorial Building. (MKF note: What a way to give developers an incentive to decimate historical buildings, retail and gentrify downtown.) Another property of note is the old Salvation Army building which is supposed to be the new home of Seabra Market.
Also to note: parking lot along the tracks on Franklin Street owned by Tenet (the hospital) is included.
Shoppers World went from just the Kohl’s lots with 360 units to 608 units that includes Kohl’s and the movie theater property. (MKF note: Considering no one suggested this one out loud in any public meeting, this site totally took me by surprise. This is one way to make any potential closing of the movie theater occur faster.)
9/90 is now the entire Staples property. Units per acre are 15, a decrease from 30 units, but it’s now 48 acres big. (MKF note: Why not more units?!), bringing the total to 720 units.
Speen Street is at 300 units at 15 acres with 20 units per acre. This is down from the originally proposed 420 units at 30 units per acre.
Lastly, Nobscot. Nobscot has been decreased from 1104 units to 620 units. The parcel size decreased from 36.8 acres to 31 acres. The September proposal had the density at 30 units per acre, the new proposal sets it at 20 units per acre. Nobscot is now the second largest complex by number of units for a section. I don’t count Downtown as that, since it’s so spread out. However, if built, Nobscot will be the largest densest project.
To review the maps, please click here for the presentation in tonight’s Council meeting packet.
What’s next: Tonight’s Council agenda is to make “a referral to the Planning Board and request for joint public hearing on proposed alternate MBTA Zoning Ordinance and MBTA Overlay District Maps, for implementation of MBTA Zoning”
Water & Sewer Hearing Held
Last night, Monday, November 18, Mayor Sisitsky held a public hearing on changes to the water and sewer rates.
Increase proposed: A 4% increase in rates, along with a “ready to serve fee”, and an increase to irrigation meter rates, is proposed by the Administration. Also in the plan is reducing the five tier billing structure to four. For folks who live in condos, part of the proposal is limiting the Multi-Unit Dwelling Factor policy to condos only. Irrigation rates also increase.
What this means: According to a statement read by the Mayor during the hearing, the “ready to serve fee” will be based on meter size. The average household is looking at an impact fee of $37 per year. This fee will “help recover fixed costs associated with running a utility”, said the Mayor, including operation, personnel, debt service and MWRA assessments. The irrigation rate will increase to $18.43 per 100 cubic feet.
Concern for renters: A local resident who owns several properties expressed concern about removing the MUD factor and the effect it will have on renters. He sought confirmation that the MUD factor applies to those “landlords who rent apartments to tenants who are the most vulnerable to price swings will be impacted.” The Mayor responded with “That’s right” pointing out that the policy was changed in 2007 but in many cases was never implemented. The speaker remarked that maybe the factor wasn’t implemented for “good reason for the negative impact on the renters”. Mayor Sisitsky, who was a Selectman at the time, said that concern was not a major issue in that discussion at that time.
Another resident who rents units said he is “feeling crushed” by the increases.
He further asked what is the impact for multi-units. He was given a 3 unit example, currently $608, removing the factor would increase $126 per quarter - 20% increase.
Stearns Farm expressed concern with the increase of irrigation costs, which the farm depends on for watering and keeping production stable during drought. There is no well, so they must use city water. There is no agricultural rate in Framingham. They have already spent $7000 for the first three quarters of the year. The farm is seeking an abatement in order to continue operating. The Mayor says a new abatement policy will be in place by the end of the year. The farm requested an abatement in the past, but were denied because there were no agricultural criteria in the process.
“One of the things that will come out of this is it will put more pressure on users to conserve water,” said Mayor Sisitsky, reminding people to check their faucets and toilets for leaks. “That is the best way to keep your water bills as low as possible.”
More information: While there was no background material in the hearing agenda packet, the Mayor stated a letter will go out to residents and businesses in early December outlining the new changes. The changes go in effect in January 2025.
Community Events
Support the Curtis Thanksgiving Dinner: For 35 years, Karen and Mark Curtis have provided a roast turkey dinner to those in need. Last year more than 1200 meals were delivered to elderly in MetroWest. If you are in need of a meal or know someone who is please email Curtisthanksgiving@gmail.com. Help support their efforts through their yearly raffle. Tickets are $10.00 with 100% of proceeds going directly to the event. Please see the flyer below for a list of items and how to purchase.
KFB Neaten Up November Continues: Help KFB clean up the Beaver Street area as part of our ongoing efforts to Keep Framingham Beautiful!Park & Meet at Harmony Grove School - 169 Leland Street. Please bring a grabber if you have one & wear bright colors for safety. We will have loaner grabbers for those that don’t have them
The Civic Week Ahead
Tuesday, November 19
Wednesday, November 20
10:00am: Registrar of Voters Agenda
10:00am: Economic Development Corporation Agenda
5:15pm: McCarthy School Council Agenda
5:30pm: Mayoral Community Center Advisory Committee Agenda
5:30pm: Veterans Council Agenda
6:00pm: School Committee Executive Session Agenda
7:00pm: School Committee Agenda
7:00pm: Conservation Commission Agenda
Thursday, November 21
Friday, November 22
11:00am: Keefe Tech Selection of Municipal Representative/ Collective Bargaining Agenda
In Closing…
This is the 100th issue of The Ham’er.
As always, thank you for joining me on this journey. I love writing this letter to you every week. Please continue to share and encourage others to subscribe.
See you next week,
