Chapter 40B Can Be Scaled-Back Or Denied

Proposed Chapter 40B projects can be mitigated, scaled-back, and in some cases denied. Anyone who thinks that Chapter 40B projects are a mandate and there is nothing that you can do, simply has a defeatist mentality. Those are most-likely individuals who do not want to put in the time or effort required to affect positive change.

Case and point is Medfield Meadows, whereas developer, John Kelly originally submitted a proposed Chapter 40B project with 200 units, it was revised down to 183 units, and then the proposed project was denied by Mass Housing because of the high density and the architectural design language did not match its surrounding neighbors. After the denial, the developer then reassessed the defeat and decided it would be to his advantage to engage with the neighbors and community, thus resulting with 36 units, more than a 82% decrease from what the developer started with named Medfield Green.

What Steven Venincasa and James Venincasa have proposed with 192-apartment units in three four-story buildings, with a single ingress/egress access point on a substandard minor road (Rice Road), does not fit the architectural style or low density of existing neighborhood or the surrounding area. There is only two (2) four-story residential building in the whole town of Millbury. One is a local government owned subsided apartment building, known as Centerview Apartments at the corner of Elm Street and South Main Street. There is no development in the town of Millbury that has the number of units proposed.

Read more on how the residents of the town of Medfield, mitigated and scaled-back Medfield Meadows to less than 50% of the original development plans on patch.com and another article about the initial denial in the hometownweekly.net.

The town of Medfield is a town smaller than Millbury, with less than 13,000 residents. If they can work together to mitigate a Chapter 40B project and scale it down to a reasonable density, then our resourceful Millbury residents, town officials, and town employees should be able to do the same or better. It is going to take individuals rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands dirty as Steven Venincasa and James Venincasa have already demonstrated that they don’t care what our neighborhood, residents, or town officials think. As a point of reference, after the first in-person Millbury Planning Board meeting, Steven Venincasa told residents gathered outside, that (and we paraphrase) “the Planning Board members are kindhearted people, but I am going to steamroll right over them and get exactly what I want in the end.” Steven Venincasa could not have been more wrong. The Millbury Planning Board did their job and denied the original proposed 46-condominium project due to Steven Venincasa’s failure to address and mitigate the public safety problems. Our neighborhood stood up, put in the effort, and influenced the Millbury Planning Board with definitive facts, which led to the defensible denial which Steven Venincasa did not appeal.

None of the public safety problems identified and documented have been abated and a proposed 192-apartment development project more than four times the magnitude only exacerbates the public safety problems.

Working together, we can either mitigate, drastically scale-back, or defeat this next challenge in the same manner with facts not feelings. The Millbury Board of Selectmen must have the courage to make tough decisions, like the Millbury Planning Board did, and put their constituents’ best interests first. No one is against safe, appropriate and responsible development. What Steven Venincasa and James Venincasa have proposed is not that, for a second time.

Why does this matter? Because a development like this could come for your neighborhood next. Unfortunately, this is an ever increasing probability. We need safe, appropriate and responsible development that are in harmony with our existing neighborhoods. There are ways to balance development, so we maintain our small town character while having responsible growth to meet our housing needs.

Don’t forget we have the threat looming of the MBTA inclusionary zoning coming to downtown Millbury at some point in the near future, which is by-right authority to develop 750 dwelling units.