Although the Wayland Conservation Committee (ConCom) won its appeal on May 14, there is still no final decision regarding the construction of a 60-unit, four-story building at the former Mahoney’s site at 113-115 Boston Post Rd.
The Mass. Department of Environmental Protection commissioner still must endorse the decision of Margaret Stolfa (presiding officer of the DEP’s Office of Appeals and Dispute Resolution). If the commissioner agrees, the process could begin again, and the Cascade developers will be required to submit a new notice of intent (NOI) application with the Wayland Conservation Commission if they want to proceed with the development. That document would need to provide professional evaluations answering ConCom’s questions and obtain its approval for any new design changes made to address problems. The commission would then determine if the new designs are compliant with the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and the Wayland Wetlands and Water Resources Bylaw.
ConCom received the mosr recent NOI from the second developer, LEC Environmental Consultants, Inc., on November 16, 2022, filing on behalf of the new owners, Cascade Development Associates.
“There is no reason to outright deny the project if the developer makes some design changes,” said Linda Hansen, Wayland Conservation Administrator. She said ConCom (whose mission is to protect wetlands, water and wiildlife therein) must ensure that the developer complies with the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and the Wayland Wetlands and Water Resources Bylaw.
The appeal resulted from the DEP’s approval of Cascades’ application for Significant Operational Compliance. The aim of SOPs is to evaluate and ensure compliance with DEP operational regulations to protect the environment and public health. ConCom did not feel that the DEP considered all the facts.
The Wetlands Protection Act prohibits construction, earth-moving, or the alteration of soils or vegetation within 100 feet of the wetlands and/or 200 feet of a perennial stream. In Wayland, wetlands include ponds, streams, vernal pools, banks, bordering vegetative wetlands, flood plains, and forested wetlands.
The Cascade project is permitted to build within 100 feet of the wetlands. According to Hansen, a developer is allowed to build in a restricted area if the zoning law was downgraded to allow a previous owner to do so because of the Redevelopment Act. However, ConCom still has an obligation to ensure that the wetlands are protected. The Commission’s primary concerns are sufficient stormwater drainage, protection of the streams and surrounding area and endangerment of the trout streams.
ConCom appealed MassDEP’s approval of the developer’s SOP because the developer failed to provide sufficient information to address their concerns in multiple areas which could have a negative impact on the surrounding area and on the nearby stream. The following concerns, not addressed by the developer, were presented in the appeal process:
- Does the project fully meet the Stormwater Standards?
- Will the project degrade the riverfront boundary area?
- Was the area performance standards applied on a per lot basis? (The former Mahoney’s lot and the adjacent lot.)
- Why was there no consistent summary of the riverfront performance standards?
- What are the effects of the new discharge of treated and untreated stormwater in the critical area? The commission was looking for a qualified professional to demonstrate that the discharge would not adversely impact the cold-water fishery. The developer never provided a report.
- What is the impact of subsurface sewage disposal system on the protected interests?
- Would the discharge channel have an adverse on effect on important wildlife habitat on the river’s bank or its land under the water resource area?
Hansen expressed the Commission’s concern about the proximity of the proposed subsurface sewage effluent system and the potential pollutant loads associated with those pollutants which would not normally be removed in the treatment process including PFAS, pharmaceuticals and household chemicals into the stream flow. A report from Scott Horsley, Water Resources Consultants said that the proposed 11,000 gallons/day wastewater discharge represents a significant pollutant load to Pine Brook since it would contain 16% wastewater effluent during critical flow periods.
YMCA Camp Chickami is located there and directly downstream of the proposed development. The camp utilizes the brook and attached ponds as a play area for the children who would be put at risk of harmful algae blooms caused by excessive nitrogen and phosphorus discharges, according to Horsley’s report. The other concern is that the project is adjacent to one of the few cold water trout streams in eastern Massachusetts.
Some history
Eden, Management, Inc., the first developer, applied on July 25, 2017 to the Wayland Zoning Board (ZBA) for a comprehensive permit to construct 60 rental units with a total of 89 bedrooms, served by a Title V septic system, in a single residential structure. Abutters, other residents and some town officials expressed concerns regarding size, appearance, traffic and the impact on storm water runoff, flood zones and the Pine and Haywood Brooks as well at the property backing up to environmentally sensitive conservation land. There were ongoing discussions addressing these concerns and some design revisions. It was decided because of its size and proximity to the stream that a septic system would not be allowed. The board issued a decision dated January 15, 2019, approving a comprehensive permit with conditions.
In February 2019, the developer filed an appeal asking the committee to overturn the decision of the board and grant the comprehensive permit for which it had applied.
The ZBA then issued an order of referral to mediation and the parties continued to engage in discussions, which resulted in an agreement on July 29, 2021 for the issuance of a revised comprehensive permit to construct 60 ownership units with a total of 97 bedrooms, served by a wastewater treatment facility. This compromise required the builder to build a wastewater treatment facility in place of a septic tank but also allowed larger units with 97 bedrooms instead of 81.
Hansen said that wastewater treatment facilities are exempted from the state and local regulations for minimum setback distances and buffer zones for streams that apply to septic systems. However, because the developer proposes filling a seven- to 10-foot leach field, some of the same rules still apply.
While the negotiations were taking place, other groups were advocating for their competing interests: providing more affordable housing for residents, and having the town meet the state’s affordable housing target goals versus conservation and town aesthetics.
The Historical Society was concerned about “encroachment of an archaeologically sensitive site by the brook.” Protect Wayland, a group of residents, hired the McGregor & Legere law firm to urge the ZBA to reject the application “to shoehorn an unreasonably large number of units into an environmentally sensitive site.”
Mark Hays, a member of Protect Wayland, told Wayland Patch in January 2018 that the Cascade proposal with 60 units “would be the tallest, most massive building in Wayland, and the most massive along Route 20 for 35 miles from Worcester to Watertown.” Wayland has a 35-foot building height limit. Most four story buildings are forty to fifty feet high.
When the project was first discussed, the chair of the Wayland Housing Partnership urged the Select Board in 2016 to approve the project, stating in a letter, “While the developer indicated that his proposed plan will provide the minimum number of affordable units (i.e., 25%, as required by Chapter 40B), WHP feels that given Wayland’s well-documented needs, development of this property offers an opportunity for the town to negotiate a greater number of affordable units.”
Wayland did not meet the state’s 10% affordable housing minimum when Cascade was proposed. Towns below that threshold are subject to 40B proposals, which can potentially override local zoning requirements such as density rules, and allow for more flexible standards. Wayland now has 533 units of afforabl housing, whic is 10.20% of its housing stock. The Cascade project proposes to provide 15 affordable housing units as part of the larger 60-unit development.
Hansen said she could not predict when and if the MassDEP commissioner would endorse the appeals officer’s decision. She said that it could take a while, considering it took a year for the MassDEP to even consider the appeal. The commissioner does not typically reverse the appeal officer’s decision, Hansen said, but added that this is “new territory” for her.
