Resources

Concerns/questions raised by residents

- While we can say Town Meeting was being enthusiastic and leaders when they passed MBTA-C in Apr 2023, there are no pathways to rapidly address issues that arise. It has also become clear that there was inadequate due diligence and inadequate vetting of individual properties before inclusion in the rezoned areas. 

- Further, some of the assumptions that underlie some Town Meeting Members' estimates (Cluster Housing Study Group) have proven false, such as that individual small lots won't be developed, and that Bedford/Worthen will see very slow change since it's already developed. 

- Where is the Planning Board's study/model that they used to estimate "400-800 units in 5 to 10 years" in March 2023? Why isn't the Planning Board delivering an updated estimate now, given that the town is at 983 proposed/approved units at 1.5 years out from the vote? 

- For the town to ignore residents and concerns that arise, is wilful. When the town's enthusiasm is accompanied by lack of action and no demonstrated urgency by the town to fix issues, then there is heightened risk of the town heading into territory encompassing incompetence, negligence, malfeasance and fraud. 

- Is the town's lack of appropriate modeling and disclosures, and wildly inaccurate estimates, misleading to current and future investors in the town? Are the town's estimates (on units/timeframe) good faith estimates or are these to be viewed by investors as intrinsically unreliable? Rapid dense development will have an impact on infrastructure,  services, personnel, schools, and investors need to have accurate  information.

- What do the town's auditors think of all of this? Auditors are meant to maintain professional skepticism during any audit. 

- For *ALL* proposed projects, the neighbors / Planning / developer need to consult with John Livsey, Town Engineer, and find out how many acres of surrounding land drain into/through the property that is being developed. This will give insight into the risks of stormwater flooding, that the town did not take into account earlier when rezoning parcels. 

- For *ALL* proposed projects, the town needs to look up the parcel on First Street (the climate risk data website) and find out what the flood risk is. FEMA data understates the flooding risk, and misses properties that do flood. First Street has the opposite problem, and can overstate the flooding risk.. that's why the information from John Livsey is important. It is also very important to talk to the neighbors of the proposed development properties as well, since the neighborhoods will have insights that the town/planning failed to ask about prior to rezoning.