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Residents urge negotiation over 40 Oakland Street; Select Board pledges to share consultant renderings when available
Summary
At a Select Board meeting ahead of a Special Town Meeting, residents urged negotiation with the Commonwealth on 40 Oakland Street instead of litigation and requested expedited release of consultant renderings and underlying assumptions; Chair Freiman said slides were still in production and clarified the consultant work was a fit test, not a preferred design.
Two residents spoke to the Select Board in advance of the Special Town Meeting on 40 Oakland Street.
Sally Watts of Atwood Street urged the Board to pursue negotiation with the Commonwealth rather than litigation. Watts said the Commonwealth has a legal right to develop the parcel and that through negotiation the Town could secure approximately 40 acres of preserved land while allowing clustered housing—she cited the site's walkability, proximity to two train stations, access to Route 1 buses, and adjacency to town parkland as advantages. Watts asked whether litigation would be pursued only to prohibit housing and suggested negotiated student-access restrictions to address traffic concerns.
Doug Youngen of Oakland Street asked the Board to direct its consultant to expedite and release preliminary site renderings and the assumptions underlying the fit test—unit sizes, parking ratios, and building configuration—before the upcoming Town Meeting so Town Meeting members would have time to review them. He noted that an academic exercise by a Planning Board member had produced drawings shared informally and that seeing drawings for the first time in a crowded meeting room would hamper evaluation.
Chair Marjorie Freiman responded that the Planning Board member's class materials were not in the Select Board's possession and suggested Mr. Youngen contact that member. She confirmed the consultant renderings had not yet been received and committed to sharing the slides as soon as they were complete, noting much of the content had already been presented to the Advisory Committee. Executive Director Meghan Jop described the consultant work as a "fit test"—an exercise to show that 180 units could be accommodated on the approximately 4.6-acre parking-lot area, not a preferred design—and said final design would proceed through site plan and design review processes.
No formal vote was taken on 40 Oakland Street at this meeting. The Board discussed scheduling review time for the STM presentation and requested that the consultant clearly communicate assumptions alongside any renderings.
