Natick Report

Natick started its second week of Spring Annual Town Meeting on May 2 with lots of work remaining, but first a public service announcement from Moderator Frank Foss about the previous Thursday’s unusual doings.

Foss apologized for allowing the meeting to become disorderly as efforts were made to sync up motions in print and online versions of the Finance Committee materials given to Town Meeting members on key issues related to the omnibus budget.

“As confusing as it was for you, the evening was frustrating for me,” said Foss, who acknowledged “the only person that is responsible in order for this proceeding is me, the town moderator, even though events leading up to the proceeding Thursday were arguably questionable and need improvement. I and only I am responsible for the order of the evening. So Thursday night was not orderly. To that end, that was my failure and I apologize.”

Now back to the regularly scheduled program…

(We’ve embedded the May 2 and 4 Natick Spring Annual Town Meeting recordings from Pegasus below.)

Dr. Nolin recognized

School Committee member Cathi Collins read a resolution (embedded below) honoring outgoing Natick Public Schools Supt. Dr. Anna Nolin, who heads to Newton following the end of this school year to lead that larger school district.

The resolution recognized Nolin for her “exemplary service to the Natick Public Schools and the Town of Natick.” Nolin, who spoke briefly in thanks, was joined by her family at the meeting and received a round of applause.

Nolin has spent 20 years working for NPS.

Zoning in and out

Town Meeting got a good workout during night #3 with a solid two hours of zoning bylaw presentations and motions.

All of the motions presented for Articles 24 through 29 passed easily, with some discussion sprinkled in.

Director of Community & Economic Development Amanda Loomis took the lead, with Town Administrator Jamie Errickson in a supporting role on most of the articles.

Among these were the introduction of the Center Gateway Zoning District, intended to smooth the transition between Natick Center and the stretch of Rte. 135 (East Central Street) that intersects with Grant and Union Streets, including the properties housing the former Neighborhood Wrench and Santander Bank businesses. Such zoning could provide an entrance to Natick Center from the east, and better connectivity between downtown and existing facilities such as the senior center.

Whew, we made it through the recordings & documents to file this report. Please support our work if you find it useful

This area is “primed for redevelopment. However the underlying zoning or the existing zoning actually does not lend [itself to] future redevelopment,” Loomis said.

This new zoning would allow for a mix of housing (including affordable housing that could support new state zoning rules near MBTA stations) and retail development.

Some raised concerns about increasing traffic at an already dicey intersection.

Town Meeting member Don Friswell spoke in favor of the plan, saying he’s been in his 1896 house on E. Central Street within this district since 1980 and doesn’t plan to move. Looking at the largely vacant parcel that once housed a service station, Friswell said he knew things would be changing. ” I think we have to look forward to come up with something that can be used not only here but in other parts of the town…”

Town Meeting supported this article, as it did those on replacing the existing cluster development bylaw and rescinding a moratorium on such developments, which provide an alternative to traditional subdivisions. The revised bylaw increases the minimum parcel size for cluster developments, supports more variety in unit size, and promotes open space preservation. The existing bylaw created confusion among the Planning Board, Conservation Commission, developers, and the public when it came to cluster development, Loomis said. [Read more…]