The May 22 article headlined “June 25 Special Town Meeting agenda grows” misstated the proposed future ownership of the Farrington/Panetta land as well as the number of signatures required to bring a citizens’ petition (100 for a Special Town Meeting, vs. the 10 signatures need for a regular Annual Town Meeting). The article has been updated with information below from Rural Land Foundation Executive Director Geoff McGean.
The RLF is trying to arrange for Farrington Memorial, which owns 75 acres of land on the south side of Route 2, to get $3.1 million from a combination of the town’s Community Preservation Act fund, the City of Cambridge, and private donations. Farrington will retain ownership, but 65 of those acres will then have a permanent conservation restriction and trail easement held by the town. The remaining 10 acres where the Farrington Nature Linc buildings are now located will have a deed restriction that will significantly limit their future expansion.
In addition, some of the Farrington land (mostly wetlands) will be deeded by Farrington to the City of Cambridge for watershed protection purposes. That land will also have a permanent conservation restriction held by the town.
In a separate deal, developer Civico will pay $3.1 million in a single transaction for three lots that currently have houses. Two parcels (2.8 acres and 3.2 acres) are now owned by the Frank J. Panetta Trust and a third 14.1-acre lot is owned by the Paul Panetta Trust. The company will then build 20 starter homes, which will be sold to future buyers individually. The town is not involved in the financial negotiations for this transaction, and no town money will be used for land acquisition or housing construction.
After the housing is built, no major changes or additions to the Civico land can be made without the agreement of all the homeowners as well as Town Meeting, because the town is approving this specific development under the North Lincoln Overlay District. See this RLF public outreach slide deck for more details as well as maps and drawings.
The housing crisis we voted to address by adopting the HCA was to offer entry level housing to first-time home buyers and families.
I am not sure most of these families would consider $1million a “starter home.”
How does this proposal honor our commitment to address the need for affordable family housing?
We are voting to change zoning to create 20 new homes and enhance the profit for a private developer.
Is this a precedent?
It would be great if we could find a non-profit, like Community Builders, to bid on this project and give provide much-needed housing opportunities for under a million!
One important detail, on this sentence: “The town is not involved in the financial negotiations for this transaction, and no town money will be used for land acquisition or housing construction.”
As part of this deal, Civico will be allowed to put their septic system on Farrington land. Therefore, town funds will in fact benefit the developer, since it is taxpayer money that is paying for the Farrington land. If Civico were constrained to only the land they’re purchasing, they would have to build fewer houses, therefore reducing their profits. So it turns out that town funds will be used to help Civico increase their margins on this project.
Mr. McGean (RLF head) confirms that the septic will be built on Farrington land in the last RLF forum.