Nobscot Residents Hear Details on New Development Proposal

FRAMINGHAM - A community meeting regarding potential zoning changes in Nobscot and a new development proposal was held in the neighborhood on Wednesday, July 9.

Waltham-based development company J&Co has developed their latest proposal to create housing units at the roughly 31 acres of land in question. Previously, J&Co was looking to develop hundreds of multifamily units by the intersection of Edgell Road and Edmands Road. Last fall, the Nobscot parcel was considered to be added to the city’s multifamily zoning plan to gain compliance with the statewide MBTA Communities Act. The City Council voted against its inclusion, though.

Opponents to these development plans in Nobscot have contended that a large influx of housing units would be out of character with the area and its zoning.

J&Co hosted the community discussion on Wednesday at the Heritage House community room along Water Street, though residents gathered to protest the new plan prior to the start of the meeting. Audio of the meeting was provided to The Frame by local resident Matthew Brown.

J&Co’s outside legal counsel Jeffrey Roelofs spoke to community members during the meeting, which lasted about an hour and a half. Roelofs said he and his clients are looking to hold an open dialogue with neighbors and to include residents in the process. The developers, according to Roelofs on Wednesday, will be keeping factors like possible density and height limits in mind; Roelofs added that their latest pitch does not include any retail or commercial space.

“During this zoning process itself, we are all engaged in a process of trying to identify a set of zoning provisions that are appropriate for the development of these parcels,” Roelofs told attendees on Wednesday.

The new plan would feature about 400 units. Roelofs said townhomes would be built on the perimeter of the land by the Edgell and Edmands intersection, while the proposal would also feature duplexes, triplexes, and some four or five-unit buildings. The height limit for these buildings would be two-and-a-half stories, according to Roelofs, who mentioned that the plan would likely require a spell permit—meaning that local leaders would have more power to regulate the project if it were to move forward.

Roelofs said that an analysis of local traffic patterns would be a major point of J&Co’s process, adding that density, infrastructure, and community character concerns expressed by neighbors in the past are also being taken into account. With that, the legal counsel contended that the parcels in Nobscot are appropriate for this type of development.

“We think it’s just sensible land planning,” Roelofs continued.

“These parcels provide a sensible transition between the single-family neighborhoods…and the commercial and higher-density uses in Nobscot’s village.”

Still, Nobscot residents continued to express their concerns regarding any development plan during the recent meeting. Neighbors worried about impacts such as traffic congestion, noise, and the fallout for the area’s character and natural setting. The notion made by Roelofs that residents would be able to walk to many local points of interest was met with an uproar in disapproval on Wednesday.

District 1 City Council member Christine Long emphasized the importance for residents across Framingham—not just those in Nobscot—to make their voices heard on this matter, adding that projects like these can affect the city as a whole.

“As far as this project goes, I think listening is a good thing,” Long said.

“The neighbors, the reason they’re here today, is because the neighbors are the ones that should shape any project that comes into this district. It shouldn’t be done by a developer coming in telling you what to get; you need to tell them what you want here.”

Roelofs told attendees that J&Co will continue to solicit community feedback, as neighbors continued to voice their frustrations as the night went on.

“(J&Co has to) hear us loud and clear: we are not going to let you rezone this area, and we don’t want high density,” one local resident in the crowd said on Wednesday.

Any changes to Framingham’s zoning have to be enacted before any developments in the area can get underway; the City Council has the ultimate authority to approve or deny those changes.