Framingham Selectmen Unanimously Back Transfer of Development Rights Expansion Article

FRAMINGHAM — March 28, 2017 — Framingham selectmen voted unanimously to support Article 27, which would expand the receiving zone for the town's Transfer of Development Rights bylaw to include a commercial triangle bounded by Routes 9 and 30 and the Natick town line. Attorney Arthur White, presenting for the Agricultural Advisory Committee, told the board that Easley Farm at 1062 Edmunds Road has already quantified 50 transferable development lots representing 325,000 square feet of buildable rights, and that if those rights were developed at Shoppers World, the town could realize more than $1 million in new annual tax revenue. The board also voted 5-0 to formally refer the article to the Planning Board for its required public hearing and directed Town Counsel to review four identified technical defects in the existing bylaw that White said effectively bar roughly 90 percent of current receiving parcels from participation. In a separate and extended session, more than a dozen residents — including members of the Framingham Disability Commission — urged the board to accelerate accessibility upgrades to the 1834 Village Hall, currently scheduled for the fiscal year 2020 town meeting, with Karen Foran Dempsey, commission chair, saying the issue has been raised for at least 15 years and calling it "very, very tiresome." The board also opened a special town meeting warrant with a date to be determined, anticipating a potential agreement with Framingham State University on the Jonathan Maynard building and the Danforth Museum.