Guest Column By Framingham City Councilor Adam Steiner on Nobscot Development
Proposed developments in Nobscot and elsewhere in Framingham underline the need for community engagement in neighborhoods.
From time to time, this newsletter will publish guest articles which contribute to conversations on important issues in Framingham. I invited City Councilor Adam Steiner to write a piece on the Nobscot development issue, which is roiling that local community. Adam lives a few streets away from the land proposed for rezoning and has valuable local insights to offer in addition to his Councilor perspective. Here is his point of view.
Adam Steiner
City Councilor, District 3
Nobscot rezoning - no thank you!
Over the last couple of weeks, you have probably seen signs on people’s lawns - Say No to Rezoning Nobscot. These signs are part of a neighbor-driven effort to make it clear that a recent developer proposal to turn open space into apartments, homes into highrises, and our streets into highways is not going to fly. Residents Tony Polito & Vincent Lee also wrote a letter to city leaders expressing their concerns and asking for transparency. I am so thankful to them, to other engaged residents, and to fellow Councilor Christine Long for their diligence on this critical issue.
A little background: This past fall, a developer collected the 10 required signatures to introduce a proposal to change the zoning of the parcels in the nearly 30 acres that back up to houses on Livoli Road, Edgell Road, and Edmands Road, plus a few parcels on the East side of Edgell Road. This land is currently zoned for residential and the developers are looking to switch it to mixed-use allowing apartment and commercial construction. It also includes land on Edmands that was clear-cut for a school for children with autism before legal battles side-tracked that project.
The zoning proposal would rezone nearly 30 acres but it would also have a substantial, negative impact on the surrounding streets. This is not a neighborhood of McMansions - it consists mainly of small, well-maintained ranches where many original owners live - and many young couples choose to start a family and stay in Framingham for the long term. This is the kind of neighborhood we should be protecting in Framingham and this scheme would turn these residential streets into freeways as cars would cut through to avoid the Edgell/Water/Edmands intersection - as many are already doing right now, especially during construction projects. This would change the character of the entire neighborhood which has been a wonderful and walkable neighborhood for 60 years.
It is important to recognize that this same “all development is good development” attitude is driving apartment proposals all over Framingham, particularly on and near 135. We can’t continue to sit back and let developers dictate how our city will look going forward, particularly in adding development that outpaces the capacity of our roads. We have too many decisions being made on behalf of people in the real estate business rather than for our residents. That is not a Northside/Southside issue - it is a citywide epidemic.
That said, there are examples of sustainable development that are the product of an open transparent process including in Nobscot. In fact, Nobscot Plaza is currently under construction, a project which will bring new residents and stores to the area after years of stagnation. We have also had apartments added to Nobscot previously including Shillman House and Edmands House. Further, the city is looking into ways to get more out of our existing housing including in-law apartments and Homeshare, two strategies that would provide more housing without losing open space.
The good news on Nobscot Rezoning is that the word is out and the neighbors are organized - the lawn signs and the latest letter to the city are clear evidence of that - and the developer hasn’t re-emerged since the original idea went down like a lead balloon. The critical thing is that the neighbors stay informed and be ready for the next Nobscot rezoning scheme.