Select Board reviews draft Land Use Matrix Task Force charge; staff to develop site-specific options

The Select Board held a broad discussion on Feb. 24 about a draft charge for a Land Use Matrix Task Force that would help prioritize uses for several significant town-owned or state-transferable properties.

Board members and staff agreed the task force should begin by addressing urgent municipal facilities needs — especially public works and public-safety facilities — and then expand to consider broader town priorities such as housing, recreation, open space and commercial development. Select Board members emphasized the importance of staff-prepared options: planners, department heads and consultants should identify programmatic needs and present feasible site-specific options that the volunteer task force and other advisory bodies can vet.

Key points from the discussion

- Phased focus: The board favored starting with municipal needs (public works and public safety) because those needs are urgent and programmatic deficiencies are documented in existing facilities plans. Public commenters and board members also urged that the charge be explicitly written to phase work: start municipal, then broaden to housing/recreation/commercial opportunities.

- Staff role: Town staff (planning, engineering and the town manager’s office) should produce baseline options for each site — for example, what could be sited at MCI Concord versus Keis Road or 2229 Main Street — and the task force should vet and prioritize those options rather than invent technical program requirements from scratch.

- Coordination with ongoing efforts: Participants urged the task force be coordinated with the MCI advisory board and other standing committees. The Select Board discussed timing concerns: Peabody School reuse becomes possible June 30 and the wastewater/facilities negotiations could yield land availability, so staff work should begin promptly.

- Membership and representation: Board members recommended representatives from affected advisory bodies (recreation, housing, economic vitality, public works, and public safety) and suggested allowing committees to name designees; the board also discussed whether members must be Concord residents or whether non-resident experts could serve where special expertise is needed.

Public comment at the meeting stressed the need for the charge to address both municipal needs and broader opportunity (housing, commercial, recreation). The Select Board asked staff to circulate a revised draft that clarifies phasing and the envisioned staff role; the chair invited written edits to the draft and expected to return to the topic in coming weeks.