Planning Board officially opposed to South Coast Rail
MIDDLEBORO — It seems the virtual meeting hosted by MBTA on the Middleboro portion of South Coast Rail didn’t go over well with some officials.
A narrow vote of 3-2 by the Planning Board occurred on February 2 in favor of sending a letter of opposition to the MBTA saying it is against constructing the rail station in downtown Middleboro.
“It’s been like nailing jello to a wall. An ever-moving target,” said Planning Board Chairman Adam Bond, regarding the last several years of the Planning Board’s attempts to get definitive information and measures taken by the state to ensure the town’s safety and prosperity.
It was a surprising sentiment expressed given Bond historically remaining diplomatic when it comes to SCR matters.
For the last few years the Planning Board has kept attention on getting concrete decision-making and promises from the state regarding increased parking and traffic mitigation measures around the Pilgrim Junction rail station being built for the town. Local officials, include the Planning Board, have also insisted the state increase its support for economic development opportunities through such acts as freeing up landlocked state and private property in the area.
Most of the Board’s meeting was fixated on the SCR virtual meeting held on January 27 with members voicing they have had enough with playing nice and having meetings that do not produce tangible results.
Town Planner Leann Bradley and Board member Traci Craig-McGee had attended the virtual meeting and were disappointed by the answers and/or lack of answers they felt panelists provided to questions that have been asked many times in the past.
Bradley was on the virtual panel and said she could see the list of questions appearing in the chat room that she believed were intentionally ignored by members from MBTA and SCR.
“It definitely wasn’t an open meeting to voice opinions. Some had hands up the entire meeting,” she said, adding that she was surprised that no traffic experts from the MBTA were present. "Traffic is a huge issue. We were told everyone was going to be at the meeting.”
Craig-McGee also expressed her disappointment over the lack of information and panelists focused on traffic, a key point of concern for officials in town.
Bond explained he didn’t attend the meeting because “I know it’s a sell-job. The state is going to do whatever the hell it wants.”
The recent 5-year, $626 million dollar state economic development legislation from Governor Baker came up during the meeting because much of the bill has to do with housing production.
The bill itself enacts massive zoning reform where zoning changes by local boards can be done through majority rule instead of 2/3 vote. This is intended to make building housing easier and denser in certain areas, such as affordable housing and smart growth around transit.
The bill also includes multifamily zoning requirements for communities with MBTA stations that will ensure housing is suitable for families with children.
Many of these measures described in the bill are meant to increase affordable housing across the state.
“They have a housing shortage, so they want to dump it on us. It’s outrageous,” said Adam Bond, Chair of the Planning Board.
Craig-McGee and other members of the Board were clearly worried that Middleboro will lose its rural charm and make it more difficult to commute around town by becoming an MBTA community and adding more housing developments.
She highlighted the “expenses that the Middleboro taxpayer will be on the hook for” due to the increase in town services that will have to come for these new developments.
“The state gets to say, ‘because you’re getting a station, now we’re telling you what you have to do with creating housing’,” said Craig-McGee, who insisted Middleboro already has enough housing and rental properties.
The Board vote was almost unanimous.
All five board members expressed their anger with town relations with SCR over the station. Bond and other member Jack Healey explained they didn’t vote yes for the letter of opposition only because they felt it was premature and wanted to first see if they could get a proper reaction back from representatives from South Coast Rail.
“Maybe we can be a thorn in their side. There are things that can be done to make them uncomfortable enough to move,” said Bond.
The other three members — Craig-McGee, William Garceau, and Ed Medeiros — expressed that the Board has been talking with SCR about the same concerns the last four years, and they were done talking.
The vote happened and passed. Now the question is where does this lead? The ground has broke and construction crews are clearing trees on the land for the station.
Various Board members were talking about organizing public displays of activism and resistance.
http://vod.mccam02346.com/Cablecast/WebFiles/57196/Planning%20Board%202-2-2021.pdf
PLANNING BOARD 2-2-2021
http://vod.mccam02346.com/CablecastPublicSite/show/6122?channel=1
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