I am writing to urge Town Meeting members to vote to indefinitely postpone action on Warrant Article 21, which seeks to change the zoning for the 71 Greenwood Avenue site from single family homes to a 28 unit condominium.
Years ago the Town rezoned the property to allow the construction of a 41 unit condominium that was invalidated by Land Court. When the zoning was invalidated, the Town reasonably refused to go forward with its contract to sell the Greenwood property to Groom. Groom then sued the Town, and has asked the Court to force the Town to sell him the property so that he can construct a high density affordable housing project on the site.
Now we’re back, once again, considering a project that is not suitable to the neighborhood. The proposed zoning change does not take into consideration the Master Plan or the impact on the neighborhood, and does not represent principles of good design and planning for the community. It is solely a negotiated settlement with Groom, intended to get him to drop his lawsuit.
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If approved, the Selectmen will engage in another Request for Proposals to develop a 28 unit condominium project on the site. Groom’s lawsuit will remain in effect until and unless he is awarded the RFP. The Town has no incentive to award the RFP to anyone but Groom. The process is fundamentally flawed and will lead to yet another lawsuit against the Town.
We deserve a fair and open process.
