Zoning board reverses previous decision, approves 340-unit apartment project
After a long and contentious process, the Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday overturned its own recent decision, granting a comprehensive special permit to developer The Davis Cos. for a 340-unit apartment building at 455 Totten Pond Road.
The building, which will be named The Residences on Winter, has been in front of the board since The Davis Cos. applied for the permit in early 2025.
The ZBA on April 14 had voted 3-2 to deny the permit, after expressing concerns about the project’s affordability and impact on local infrastructure.
However, at its April 28 meeting the ZBA went into executive session to discuss the application again and afterward took another vote on the permit — this time voting 3-2 to approve it. Board members Glenna Gelineau and Matthew Deveaux again voted against approving the permit, but Stephen Taranto voted in favor of it — a flip from his earlier vote.
The final conditions laid out in the decision filed with the city clerk resemble the conditions the developer and the city’s Law Department presented before the board’s first vote.
The developer has agreed to provide 72 units at rents affordable for households making 80% of the area median income and 13 units at rates affordable for households making 60% AMI. The building will impose a veterans’ preference criterion on 10% of the affordable units, and a preference for local residents on 70% of them. No three-bedroom units will be included at the 60% AMI price point. It will also provide at least 36 free parking spots for affordable units and will ensure the units are not charged additional fees for water use.
The developer will further provide $2 million in mitigation funds for the city to compensate for the development’s impact on city infrastructure. That money will include funds for sewer improvements in the area, if the city determines they’re necessary to support the new building; a new sidewalk along the north side of Winter Street; and, if money is left over, additional funding for Waltham’s schools, fire and police services to cover the costs of expanding to fit the new district. Contributions to these departments have been included in agreements withprevious Chapter 40B developments approved by the city.
None of the ZBA’s members responded by the publication time to questions about what changed about the project since the board initially rejected it.
The Davis Cos. applied for a comprehensive special permit under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 40B. This law streamlines the process for developers to apply for and obtain necessary municipal permits to construct housing, as long as at least a quarter of it meets state standards of affordability. The state has required that zoning boards prove a housing development creates significant harm to a community in order to reject a permit application outright.
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I am glad to see that the developers have adopted the Advantage Housing act for veteran’s and we are getting our preference that was passed in State Legislation. On behalf of the veterans We thank you ! God Bless and God Bless our veterans.
Enough with the building here! Where is the traffic going to go? How many police and fire have been added to this city with all the new developments? None if you were wondering. Population goes up only dilutes the services we receive. With school system a complete mess! Imagine how far behind we are in hiring new police and fire to keep up with the demand? Why is this never talked about? When your waiting for an Ambulance or a police officer to help or a firefighter to help for a prolonged time because now they have a bigger population to protect and help…. Will you be saying this is a good idea? Our services are busting at the seams and this needs to be addressed. Three 2 alarm fires in two weeks. Give them a raise and hire more police and fire
Bob, I appreciate you raising these valid points. You’re right that we can’t ignore the strain on our infrastructure; the recent 2-alarm fires show exactly why we must prioritize hiring more police and fire personnel as we grow. I support the Board’s decision because we need the housing, but I agree that it must be paired with real investment in our emergency services. This includes moving forward with the approved $80 million public safety facility on Lexington Street, which will replace outdated buildings with modern headquarters for our first responders. We can advocate for both the inevitable growth of our city and the services needed to keep it safe. Thank you for bringing these critical issues to the forefront of the conversation.
I’m glad Glenna and Matt stayed strong. What kind of pressure brought this. Has this ever happened before. A reversal? They didn’t even want to replace the street curb to curb, just patch on Totten pond road in front of the building. How many ways did they try to get out of doing the sidewalks. Like it wasn’t already stated as required? Integrity?
They only committed to constructing the sidewalk in front of their building because that’s the only land they own. They can’t construct sidewalks on their neighbors’ land for the same reason I can’t choose to do a construction project at your house- that’s just not how property rights work.
This is why, if we want well-connected infrastructure, we should be pressuring the city to do so, not random developers. The city has the authority to build a sidewalk network; individual property owners and developers do not.
FWIW, this is exactly why the developer is giving $2M to the city in “mitigation funds”. A new sidewalk is explicitly identified in the article as one of the city projects this money will help facilitate.
This is going to be so good for Waltham. I’m glad the board came to this decision.
Horrible decision
This is a good decision for Waltham. I am glad the Board was able to reverse course.
Great news, I’m glad they came around on this