The state’s 90-day review of the town’s plans for complying with the MBTA Communities Act has been completed and resulted in only a handful of minor suggestions that do not affect the town’s two-pronged compliance strategy.
The Planning Board will now shepherd the plans through the next phase of the state’s process, which culminates with a Town Meeting vote in October required for the town to meet the law’s Dec. 31 deadline for compliance.
The clean review also opens the door for possible adjustments to the zoning plans that could facilitate the development of the former Carter building at 100-110 West St.
The first phase of the MBTA compliance process was managed by the ad hoc Needham Housing Working Group (HONE), which spent nearly a year developing the town’s strategy.
After multiple HONE committee meetings, three well-attended community meetings and a joint meeting of multiple town boards, HONE devised a strategy that gives Town Meeting two options to meet the state mandate for Needham to produce a zoning district where multifamily housing is allowed by right. That plan was forwarded to the state for review on May 1.
The law requires Needham to create at least one zoning district that is at least 50 acres and allows for at least 1,784 units of multifamily housing by right.
The first option is the base compliance plan that comprises 100 acres and has a zoning capacity for 1,868 housing units with a density of 18.6 units per acre.
The second, “neighborhood” plan covers 93 acres and has a zoning capacity to create 3,294 housing units with a density of 35.6 units per acre.
Those plans were submitted for a 90-day review by the state Office of Housing & Livable Communities to determine whether they comply with the law’s guidelines and that the town’s yield calculations met the law’s minimum requirement of 1,784 potential units.
On Aug. 1, the town received a three-page letter from the HLC to Director of Planning and Community Development Lee Newman listing a handful of minor inconsistencies but no significant compliance concerns.
The Planning Board will now have the opportunity to put its imprint on the plan. This process opens the door for some adjustments but is not expected to alter the overall strategy of giving Town Meeting two distinct options — approve the minimally compliant “base plan” or opt for the more ambitious “neighborhood plan.”
At meetings in June and July, the Planning Board held lengthy discussions with representatives from Welltower, which owns the 4.3-acre site in the heart of Needham Heights at 100-110 West St. that has been vacant since 2018.
Welltower, a publicly traded real estate investment trust that holds an interest in more than 3,000 properties, previously presented plans to redevelop the property as a combined senior living and assisted living facility. That plan faced community opposition before Welltower abandoned that effort.
The group’s attorney, Tim Sullivan, indicated that the MBTA law presented a vehicle to alter zoning in a way that would create the opportunity for Welltower to pivot to a multifamily housing complex that could produce the 187 units the draft plan calculates the site has the potential to yield.
Sullivan has been communicating with town staff and the Planning Board, suggesting further changes would be needed for Welltower to achieve that number of units.
“If you build to the height that’s allowed, if you maintain the setbacks, you won’t get the 187 units that is assumed in the base compliance model because of the inefficiencies of residential building — corridors, elevators, common areas, that sort of thing,” Sullivan said at the Planning Board’s July 25 meeting.
Sullivan is expected to return to the Planning Board’s next meeting Aug. 14 to resume discussions on adjusting the current dimensional requirements without creating a compliance problem. Multiple Planning Board members expressed interest in working with Sullivan toward a mutually beneficial outcome.
Referring to the West Street parcel, Planning Board Chair Natasha Espada said, “We want this (parcel) developed, and we think this is a great location for housing. So we want to work with you. But we also represent the community.”
The Aug. 14 meeting will be the only opportunity for the Planning Board to discuss the changes, as it is obligated to finalize a draft plan ahead of a scheduled Sept. 5 public hearing. The board will then need to complete the plan in order to meet the deadline for submission to the Town Meeting warrant.
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