-Submitted by W.T. Barnett
I am against the overreaching development proposed for Carlisle Road. In particular I think two 3 story apartment buildings with a garage parking under them are terribly out of place and unnecessary.
Because of economic conditions such as interest rates and the real estate market the only way the developer can do this financially is to make this a very dense rental project, potentially 600 people.
Perhaps if we wait a while interest rates will come down and the real estate market will stabilize, which would make a less dramatic project possible.
This project is being considered because of 40b, which allows zoning laws to be ignored. According to the Bedford Housing Study of 2019, Bedford is second only to Burlington in available rental housing of all surrounding towns. This does not include the rental units being built on South Road. Bedford is at the ceiling of available rental housing not the floor. The reason to build more rental units in Bedford does not justify a 139 unit development of which 113 units are rental.
The infrastructure problems and costs to the town are obvious. Since the implementation of 40b the school rankings seem to be struggling to maintain a high number. Traffic, water and sewer service on Carlisle Road will need to deal with a near quadrupling population. The unforeseen problems are what really concern me. Also, with a fire department that seems to be stretched thin, why are we doing this? The ambulance service call volume is up, according to my conversation with a Bedford fire captain. We are in the middle of moving the fire station, the timing could not be worse.
This development is at the wrong place, wrong time and for the wrong reason. Please contact the Select Board to help stop the overreach of this development.
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Common sense would put a stop to this project. There is not a good reason to build this. We have more than our fair share of 40b already.
I totally agree with Mike Merrick and Mr Barnett.