Published in the March 30, 2021 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — After more than a year of informal discussions with various stakeholders (mainly the Friends of Lake Quannapowitt), Cabot Cabot and Forbes has officially filed plans with the town to redevelop the property at 200 Quannapowitt Parkway at the head of the Lake.
Last Wednesday, attorney Brian McGrail filed the plans with the Building Department at Town Hall on behalf of his client.
According to the materials filed last week, CC&F is proposing to construct 485 residential apartments in three buildings on the former site of American Mutual and Comverse. The two buildings nearest the Lake would be three-stories in height. A third, four-story building would be set closer to the highway.
“We have been working diligently for the past year in productive dialogue with various stakeholders in the town of Wakefield to advance conceptual plans for a mixed-use redevelopment proposal for the Site,” CC&F Chief Executive Officer Jay Doherty wrote in a letter accompanying the filing. “These efforts just recently culminated in an agreement, in principle, with the Friends of Lake Quannapowitt whereby we have agreed to reduce the number of stories and the height of the proposed buildings and to adjust their configuration to reflect two three-story buildings nearest Lake Quannapowitt and one four-story building including a parking garage nearest Route I-95.”
However, due to a filing deadline, the plan revisions agreed to in discussions with FOLQ could not be included in last week’s filing with the Building Department. As a result, a letter attached to the filing lays out CC&F’s commitment to its agreement with FOLQ.
“These design revisions are not yet reflected in the plans enclosed with this application, because we could not delay this filing to reflect those revisions, but we are committed to revising the project plans accordingly as part of the hearing process,” Doherty states in the letter. “To that end, we intend to file a revised plan set, as detailed above and consistent with our commitment to the Friends of Lake Quannapowitt, with the Board in advance of the initial hearing on the Project. During the hearings we will also be prepared to review with the Board the additional measures that we have agreed to implement in connection with the Project pursuant to our understanding with the Friends of Lake Quannapowitt.”
CC&F is seeking three Special Permits and Site Plan Review from the Board of Appeals.
The first Special Permit would allow multifamily, mid-rise and garden apartment buildings containing 485 residential units as a mixed-use development combined with a restaurant use.
They are also seeking (pursuant to By-Law Section 190-23) a Special Permit to allow for a restaurant use.
The third Special Permit requested would allow reductions and/or alterations to Dimensional Controls which are required under Section 190-32D and/or Table 2 (Table of Dimensional Regulations) of the Zoning By-law, including, but not limited to, requirements relating to height.
Last week’s filing also includes a Certified Abutter’s List from the Wakefield Board of Assessors, dated March 2, 2021, checks for all applicable filing fees and site and architectural plans along with drainage study prepared by Allen & Major Associates, Inc. and Cube 3 Architects.
The plan would involve razing the old American Mutual building currently on the site.
The initial plan floated at informal meetings over a year ago called for constructing two six-story multifamily apartment buildings and one five-story condominium building.
But by the time CC&F met with the Zoning Board of Appeals in May 2020 for a preliminary pre-application meeting, the developer had abandoned the condominium component and was proposing two five-story apartment buildings – still with a total of 600 units.
The reaction of ZBA members to the preliminary presentation was mixed. Several members expressed serious reservations about the size, density and mass of such a project. Others expressed cautious interest in seeing what is ultimately proposed for the site.
By late summer, the plans had been revised again, based on feedback from the ZBA, FOLQ and the public, the number of total units was reduced to 485.
In August, CC&F told the Item that the revised plans called for reducing the density (number of units), reducing the height, moving the buildings farther back from the Lake and providing the public with more open space. The August plan also reduced the number of buildings. Proposed were two buildings of four stories each with a maximum height of 47 feet.
Last October, the Friends of Lake Quannapowitt expressed its strong opposition to the project.
“Lake Quannapowitt and its surrounding green-spaces attract many hundreds of people daily for a welcome escape from the pressures of urban life,” FOLQ said in a statement sent to the Item. “Introducing 800 to 1200 residents with their cars into this area will degrade the character of the park-like greenway that people value. The Townspeople commonly call Lake Quannapowitt, the ‘town jewel.’ The jewel is fragile and needs to be protected against encroaching urban development of unprecedented size.”
But it appears that at an agreement has now been reached between the Friends of Lake Quannapowitt and Cabot Cabot & Forbes.
The first public hearing on the project is scheduled for the April 28 Board of Appeals meeting.