By Jeffrey Epstein
Bedford’s 2018 Town Meeting struggled for two nights with frameworks for the future in this year’s Warrant, perhaps most notably the new four-piece zoning requirements for the Great Road District that comprised Articles 8, 9 and 10. Most of the proposed district plan in Article 8 and associated map amendments in Article 10 passed. Article 9, dealing with building heights in the Shawsheen Subdistrict, failed, and Article 10 was amended.
The new district sets basic zoning rules for each of four subdistricts in the overall Great Road District: Shawsheen, Marketplace, (historic) Center, and North Road. The amendments to the Zoning Bylaw, that the Town Meeting adopted Monday, don’t require property owners to retrofit anything. They cover what a developer could do when redeveloping a commercial parcel, spelling out requirements for setbacks, sidewalks, landscaping, and so on. Despite all the requirements, however, both the Selectmen and the Planning Committee carefully explained that this zoning plan was just a conceptual framework for developers to work within. For that reason, nobody can predict what a finished building or store might look like.
For voters, however, that was problematic. With the town growing, and both younger and older demographics growing within it, many at the meeting expressed concerns over how Bedford can remain a small New England town honoring the heritage of its blazing battle flag past.
Among the concerns fed to and from the microphones of democracy: Should Bedford have more apartments? And if so, how many, how large, and in what density? This particularly involved the Shawsheen Subdistrict, where the new rules would have allowed (subject to special permit) taller buildings with three or even four stories, and apartments allowed on the upper stories. Some commenters stated their view that Bedford has an obligation, or at least a desire, to offer more affordable housing, especially to senior citizens. But some neighbors returned suspicion and anxiety: We don’t want Bedford to get too big, they said, we don’t want Bedford to be like a city.
In the end, the orange voting cards held aloft delivered a plurality of 161-86 in favor of Article 9. Alas, one vote short of the required two-thirds majority – and thus it failed.
Of course, this debate is not new to Bedford. But the Great Road District proposal (and other articles in the Warrant) gave it a new occasion for discussion.
Discussion on Article 10 – the zoning map changes – dealt with another odd corner, literally. The district map as proposed included a little pentagon where the Shawsheen Funeral Home has sat and done business for decades – in a residential zone. The plan would have drawn that lot into the district but was challenged by an amendment from Selectman Chair Bill Moonan. He asked that the lot be exempted, for fear of future allowance of a taller or larger building someday. “Save the Bedford we all know and love,” he pleaded. The Town Meeting roared its affirmation. The funeral home is now safe for the future.
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