In June 2010, Massachusetts Secretary of Housing and Economic Development Greg Bialecki made a promise to the 495/MetroWest region to embark on an innovative consensus-building exercise across 37 communities to identify development priorities, infrastructure needs, and preservation opportunities.
This is a promise that Secretary Bialecki has already delivered on, after leading an 18-month process soliciting submissions from each municipality, incorporating input from affected constituencies, screening municipal submissions to develop regional priorities, working across state agency jurisdictions to develop state priorities and releasing a comprehensive Compact Plan. This collaborative effort was based on municipal input, and involved his executive office staff; the Massachusetts Department of Transportation; the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs; the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and its sub-regional group, the MetroWest Regional Collaborative; the Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission; Mass Audubon; and my organization, the 495/MetroWest Partnership, a public-private economic development organization.
Since 1980, the 495/MetroWest region has experienced tremendous growth, both in businesses and residents, as shown by becoming home to top employers, such as EMC, Genzyme, Cisco, IBM, Intel, Bose and many others. To best position our region to continue succeeding in the new economy, we must encourage not only new business growth, but also new residential options and critical open space protection, as well as complementary zoning and permitting tools. It is also essential that the commonwealth, municipalities, companies, public agencies, conservationists and other key constituencies continue to collaborate and build on the Compact’s strong foundation. This foundation had six fundamental principles:
Continued new growth will likely require major transportation and other infrastructure upgrades, beyond what is needed to keep existing systems in good repair;
New commercial and residential growth must occur in a manner that is respectful of open space resources, transportation networks and water resources in the region;
Land use and transportation decisions must take into account the principles established by the Global Warming Solutions Act, the 2009 statute to modernize Massachusetts transportation systems, objectives of the Clean Energy and Climate Plan and the GreenDOT initiative;
Workforce housing must continue to be produced and preserved within the region at a scale that allows the number of workers living in the region to keep pace with the number of new jobs created in the region;
Sustainable new growth will involve the creation and maintenance of an effective public transit system that will coordinate with existing transit; and
Coordinated planning and implementation efforts between jurisdictions are necessary.
As a consequence of this grassroots strategy, there were 226 municipal submissions for Priority Development Areas (PDAs) covering over 23,000 acres, about half of which were already developed, and 383 Priority Preservation Areas (PPA’s) that included 133 wellheads. After considerable input into the screening process, the regional priorities were 91 Priority Development Areas and 193 Priority Preservation Areas. When state agencies reviewed these priorities, they identified 21 PDAs, representing 25,000 new jobs and 3,700 new housing units, and 193 PPAs, guided by the state’s Interagency Lands Committee.
The Compact has been an unprecedented initiative to forge consensus between communities and the commonwealth, as well as with developers, employers, and conservation organizations, but now the real work begins.
While the Compact Plan was released less than a month ago, its impact is already being felt within 495/MetroWest. Regional planning agencies, state agencies and quasi-public agencies are incorporating the findings into their initiatives. Related projects, such as a MassDOT-led study of the I-495/Route 9 and I-495/Mass Turnpike interchanges are incorporating the findings. PDAs are benefiting from renewed attention, such as the Marlborough site formerly used by Fidelity Investments, which is part of expansion plans by TJX. MassAudubon has released a toolkit to provide access to sources of funding and technical assistance, model zoning bylaws and other land use techniques, and informative studies, while planning related regional events.
As for our part, the 495/MetroWest Partnership was founded by employers, legislators, municipal officials, environmentalists, and developers to advocate for 495/MetroWest needs, so the Compact Plan is the embodiment of our purpose. With this forged regional consensus, and with the commonwealth’s commitment to act on the Compact Plan’s findings, we recognize that 495/MetroWest now has a unique opportunity to guide our continued success. The Partnership is committed to continuing to make that happen by working with our regional leaders and the commonwealth on the Compact Plan’s implementation.
After all, in the immortal words of longtime Dallas Cowboys Coach Tom Landry, “Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan.”
Paul Matthews is executive director of the 495/MetroWest Partnership.
