Citizen's Petition to be Decided at Town Meeting

by Kim

The dark outlined area is Bigelow Nurseries and this and the parcel to the West are those in question

I spoke to Doug Stone, a lifelong resident and town businessman, to get some detail on his citizens’ petition to be considered at Town Meeting this April.  “I see something to be improved upon; this is something we can do something about.  Anything we can do something about is a big deal and I feel a duty to bring it up,”  was the reason he gave for his petition.   It is quite difficult to change the zoning of property once developed, so he feels the time to consider this property is now.

The property in question, north of the shops at 9 and 20 (AKA the Loop) along the Northborough/Shrewsbury line, is over 300 acres in size. The petition asks for it to be re-zoned back to Business zoning.  Currently, the property is undeveloped except for Bigelow Nurseries and Shrewsbury’s water treatment plant which is situated centrally on the Western portion of the parcel.  Residences on Davis Street, Wiles Farm Road and Oak Meadow Drive are buffered from the property in question, by 184 acres of Suasco flood control land.

“This area was part of the town’s comprehensive re-zoning last year and was re-zoned to Residential B (1 acre minimum for single family housing).  The proposed warrant article seeks to re-zone to Business South some 348 acres of land that was previously zoned Industrial A prior to the 2009 Annual Town Meeting.”

Business South Zoning allows for retail, restaurants, and professional services, much as Fox Meadow on West Main Street.  Residential use would not be allowed in this zone.  Mixed Residential and retail, storage, hotels, health clubs, banks and light manufacturing would require Planning Board or Zoning Board Approval.

Tax revenue is a significant piece of the argument for business use of the land.  Each house built on average will cost over $6.5k* to town in schooling alone per year, while a business property like Times Square generate nearly $200,000 using only 29 acres. Mr. Stone estimates the total tax revenue cost at $500,000 per year, if one compares the property taxes of housing versus businesses, and the costs of education and other services.

Arguments against the business zoning I have heard are related to traffic on Davis and Crawford Streets.  To this Mr. Stone replies, “It seems logical that as a business use the easy access to these parcels is along West Main Street from Shrewsbury or from Route 20 in Northborough rather than from winding roads like Davis and Crawford. Building an undetermined number of residences in this 300 acre+ area will certainly increase the number of folks heading to both Walmart and the Solomon Pond Mall, with those folks likely using Davis and Crawford Streets — so take your pick.”

* an estimate of net property tax – services costs provided by Mr. Stone, from the 2002 Planning Board.

What do you think?   Are there other concerns you have for or against business zoning in this area?