By Bill Archambeault
BURLINGTON—As cities and towns across the state mull over whether they should adopt the Community Preservation Act, the town of Burlington is taking a different tack.
The town and two private developers are hoping to convince Burlington’s town meeting this week to approve a complicated three-way land swap that would protect open space, create affordable senior housing, preserve a historic building and give the town a tax boost through additional commercial development.
Burlington planning director Tony Fields said the plan would accomplish the goals of the Community Preservation Act without raising local taxes.
“Every so often, something comes up in front of a local legislative body that’s going to make a pretty significant mark on the future, and I think this one of those times,” Fields said.
If successful, this deal, which is more than two years in the making, might serve as an intriguing option that other cities and towns would consider, said Robert Buckley, a senior partner with Riemer & Braunstein LLP, a Boston-based law firm representing the Gutierrez Co., a Burlington-based developer involved in the three-way deal.
“It’s one of the more creative things I’ve been involved in,” Buckley said. “It’s really very innovative. If they do this, I think it’s going to serve as an example of how communities can seize the moment and be masters of their own destinies.”
The town initiated negotiations. But the complexity of the deal and skepticism by some residents, Buckley acknowledged, will make this a “tight” decision when the representative town meeting meets Wednesday night.
The plan calls for:
· Ruping Builders of Billerica to convey the historic Grandview Farm and up to three existing family lots to the town. A portion of the site will be developed into 48 affordable senior housing units for Burlington residents instead of the 105 housing units that Ruping Builders has proposed
· The Gutierrez Co. to convey 6.7 acres of the 32.7-acre Wall Street/Mountain Road site to the town for preservation. Gutierrez would build up to 170,000 square feet of first-class office space (which has already been approved), 144 market-rate housing units, 36 senior affordable housing units and preserve another 6 acres as open space.
· The town to convey 14.6 acres of vacant land on Wheeler Road to the Gutierrez Co., which would develop 159,000 square feet of first-class office space allowed under current zoning.
· The Gutierrez Co. to convey 1 acre of land with two single-family houses on it to the town.
· The Gutierrez Co. to convey 3.3 acres of vacant land to the town for preservation of open space as a buffer to the 36 units senior housing proposed for the Wall Street side.
Also, over the next 20 years, Gutierrez would pay the town $75,000 a year and Ruping would pay the town $25,000 a year, money that would be directed toward open space acquisition, neighborhood development and infrastructure improvements.
“We don’t perceive this as economic development,” Fields said. “The commercial aspects on the fringe of this swap could happen under current scenarios anyway. What we would not obtain is the affordable housing and open space.”
Fields said he is also reviewing the Community Preservation Act, but doesn’t think adopting it would be in the town’s best interest. Cities and towns must vote to participate in the program, in which the state provides matching funds to communities that approve property tax surcharges of up to 3 percent.
So far, of the 351 cities and towns in the state, 17 have adopted the act, 10 have rejected it and a number are considering it.
“As you look around the commonwealth, not a lot of communities are adopting it.” Fields said.
But Joy Conway, director of government affairs for the Greater Boston Real Estate Board and a strong advocate of the Community Preservation Act, said she’s been impressed by the response so far. In February, more than 700 people turned out for a state-sponsored conference in Worcester to learn more about the legislation, she said.
“The interest in adopting the Community Preservation Act is phenomenal,” she said. “I’m absolutely stunned that that many communities have gone through the entire process and have taken all the steps necessary to adopt the Community Preservation Act.”
Cities and towns that have already voted against participating might need more time to sell it to voters, she said.
“I think some of those communities will try again,” Conway said.
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