by Frank Schroth

The Granite Ave Park & Ride Committee met Wednesday night to carry on with their charge of identifying potential revenue generating uses for the Department of Transportation’s Park & Ride lot on Granite Avenue should the town secure the property. They met with members of MassDevelopment, heard from concerned residents, and reviewed options that have been identified to date.

Engagement with the team from MassDevelopment was initiated by Senator Brian Joyce. MassDevelopment assists towns with real estate development. The intent here is for the committee to provide them with 3 to 5 options of use. They would then present findings and designs regarding traffic impacts, street scape improvements, and identify other considerations with regard to each of the options.

On Tuesday night the Board of Selectmen voted to have the Town Administrator sign a Memorandum of Understanding with MassDevelopment for their services. There will be no cost to the town. The firm will be compensated when a sale of the property takes place.

Tania Hartford of MassDevelopment was joined by Jerry Treble and David LaPointe of Beals and Thomas, a firm specializing in land use and engineering. They will be collaborating with Vanesse who will provide traffic analysis and impact reports regarding the various scenarios provided by the committee.

April Lamoureaux, the committee’s secretary, asked them how long it would take for them to prepare their reports and findings. “It will be pretty quick,” was the response. They will turn around a report in approximately 3 – 4 weeks pun receipt of scenarios from the committee. Ms. Hartford said they had set a deadline of March 1 to be complete.

There was some general discussion regarding the amount of acreage of the parcel and its value. The parcel as defined to the committee is a 3 acre parcel but there was some confusion regarding whether the amount of land under consideration was as much as 9 acres. Some members of the committee felt the amount of acreage wasn’t germane and that the uses identified were relevant regardless of size or owner (i.e. town vs a private developer). Others argued that the acreage was relevant as certain uses such as a solar farm were dependent in part on a certain critical mass. The committee agreed to qualify their report, noting that their recommendations will be predicated on the assumption of a 3 acre parcel.

The committee is compiling a grid that identifies use, appropriate or inappropriate use, neighborhood feedback, and guidelines for use. These include but are not limited to the following:

• Car dealership – inappropriate
• Storage facility – inappropriate
• Light manufacturing – inappropriate
• Solar farm – inappropriate
• Office use – appropriate whether stand alone or mixed use. Guidelines will accompany this.
• Retail – appropriate whether stand alone or mixed use. Guidelines will accompany this.
• Medical Marijuana – TBD
• Residential – appropriate. However, they would not consider 40B development. Assisted Living would be considered.
• Hotel – appropriate

The agenda included a citizen speak and 5 residents took advantage of the opportunity. Four of them were residents of the neighborhood. Susannah Ryan spoke first and expressed opposition to a hotel, concern for wetlands, and traffic impacts. The others reiterated her concerns. Mr Varnum said he did not think the “neighborhood should be stomped on.” Cheryl Tougias, a member of the Master Plan Committee and Warrant Committee, asked that they be comprehensive in their evaluation of uses and run the numbers associated with each use to see how they will (or won’t) back into the purchase price. A recent article in Boston.com – Your Town Milton reported the purchase price to be $6 million.

In other business the committee elected a new chairman. Andrea Doherty one of two neighborhood representatives of previous chair, has stepped off the committee. The committee elected Bryan Furze to serve as chair. Residents of the neighborhood interested in serving on the committee should contact Town Planner Bill Clark.