The Board of Selectmen created the Waverley Square Fire Station Re-Use Steering Committee in January 2004 to oversee the disposition of the Waverley Square Fire Station. The Steering Committee, consisting of seven members appointed to represent different constituencies, was charged with administering a planning process funded through a grant from the state’s Ready Resource Fund (RRF). The planning process involved a three-step process:
· To develop a list of possible re-use alternatives for the Fire Station through a professionally-facilitated community-based input process.
· To develop a list of criteria to be used to distinguish a good use from a not-so-good use through a similarly facilitated community-based input process; and
· To engage technical assistance to generate the factual basis for applying the criteria to the list of re-use alternatives to winnow the alternatives down to a recommended re-use.
Through a series of four public forums that the Steering Committee held in February and March, 2004, the public generated nearly 100 potential re-use alternatives for the Fire Station. Applying the criteria generated at the community forums, the Steering Committee narrowed the list of potential alternatives to six, which were presented to the spring 2004 regular Town Meeting.
After additional financial and market analysis presented to the Steering Committee by its community development and real estate consultants, in June 2004, the Steering Committee unanimously voted to adopt its recommendations, which included the following:
The Waverley Square Fire Station should be redeveloped as a condominium complex. The Steering Committee finds that development of the Fire Station should not exceed seven units of housing.
The Town of Belmont should adopt a zoning bylaw allowing for multi-family residential development in the Waverley Square Fire Station by-right.
The Town of Belmont should dispose of the Fire Station with the condition that future use and renovation of the exterior of the Fire Station be consistent with the Secretary of Interior’s Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings as well as the Secretary of Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation.
The Town of Belmont should control development impacts not involving issues of historic preservation through the adoption of design guidelines articulated by the Board of Selectmen. Such guidelines should be included in the Request for Proposals (RFP) used to dispose of the property.
The Town of Belmont should retain the option of refusing all bids for the Waverley Square Fire Station. In such circumstances, the Board of Selectmen could consider retaining the Fire Station for lease.
The Steering Committee presented its findings and analysis to the Board of Selectmen in August 2004, at which time the Board of Selectmen unanimously approved the findings and recommendations.
Through the Fall and Winter of 2004, the Steering Committee worked with the Town’s Office of Community Development, the Planning Board, and the Historic District Commission to develop appropriate zoning changes and historic preservation processes to implement the Steering Committee’s findings and recommendations.
A set of action items to implement the final recommendations of the Waverley Square Fire Station Re-Use Steering Committee was presented to a special Town Meeting on February 7, 2005, and approved. A Request for Proposals (RFP) to dispose of the Waverley Square Fire Station is expected to be released by mid-2005.
Respectfully submitted,
Roger Colton, Chairman
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