Developers set permit timeline for large proposed residential, commercial districts

The City Council will revisit three proposed multi-use residential and commercial districts in west Waltham in about a month.

These districts would fall on top of three privately owned groups of lots. The current owners of the parcels, BXP (formerly Boston Properties) and 1265 Main Street LLC (associated with J & Co. LLC), proposed the zoning overlays to pave the way for mixed residential and commercial construction. 

BXP owns two of the properties, known as Bay Colony and Jones Road, and 1265 Main St owns the third, a large undeveloped area north of the Market Basket at 1265 Main St.

Representatives from both companies returned to the City Council’s Ordinances and Rules Committee at its Jan. 20 meeting to discuss concerns from the city’s Law Department.

City Solicitor Katherine Laughman told the committee that it needed to consider the three districts separately because of the differences in the sites of the three properties, their existing zoning and the construction proposed for each one.

Laughman said the City Council should require the land owners to agree to a more detailed development plan for each site before passing any zoning amendments, including more specifics about the size and density of buildings and the city infrastructure needed to support them. She said this will allow the council to better understand what zoning changes are necessary for construction, protect the city from harm if a company changes its plans and incentivize the developers to act quickly.

She proposed that the developers, before getting special permits for specific construction, should submit a master plan with even more granular details about building placement and type as well as a phase-by-phase breakdown of construction.

Both developers agreed to return to the committee in late February with a development agreement that addressed Laughman’s list of questions as well as further zoning details and a visually standardized site concept plan.

Both also requested and obtained committee permission to allow their own privately hired contractors to reach out to city departments so they could complete fiscal impact studies measuring how the developments would affect city infrastructure.

BXP Vice President Kier Evans said his company would not be able to provide some of the information Laughman requested including sewer and traffic studies at this stage in the process but would be able to commit to providing some infrastructure funding to the city in proportion to what BXP constructs.

He added that BXP plans to match a $15 million grant from the state to develop Green Street to make highway improvements in the area. Since construction for those improvements was scheduled to start in July, and BXP’s funding decisions were tied to the success of the development, Evans said he wants to work to pass the zoning amendments and begin the special permit process by July 1.

As a part of the deliberation process, the committee also asked that BXP hold a neighborhood meeting at the Bay Colony site so that area residents can have opportunities for input.

It also requested Waltham District Schools Superintendent Marisa Mendonsa or a designee attend a Feb. 23 committee meeting to present a comprehensive plan on how the school district can accommodate these three developments as well as other large developments under construction in west Waltham that could affect the school-age population.

“This is historic for the city. In my opinion we’re talking about building a new neighborhood,” Ward 3 Councilor Bill Hanley told the petitioners.