The 1,3 Suburban Road zoning map amendment petition will be heard by the Economic Development Subcommittee at 5pm on Wednesday May 13th in the lower cafe area. We need everyone who can come to show up. You don’t have to speak, but please be present to show you are interested in this issue- this is a case where NUMBERS MATTER!

For those who are unfamiliar with the situation, a petition to upzone the 7 3/4 northern chunk of the 3 Suburban Road parcel to RG-5 was recommended by the Worcester planning board on February 18th. The developer, who does not yet own the land, has proposed the upzone as a way to avoid building on the whole property, as it gives them the ability to more densely pack dwelling units in the southern end of the property. The problem with this claim is that once the upzone is granted, we have no way of being sure that they won’t densely build the ENTIRE 16.5 acres of land.

The other problem is that ANY development at all, especially high density development, of this land puts the area at risk for unmitigatable traffic congestion, as well as flooding and contaminated air and water runoff from the excavation of an undesignated landfill over a high water table. Because this is a historic peatland that has been buried under unknown fill for over a century the only people who know the whole story of what is buried underneath are neighbors who have compiled interviews, historic research, environmental engineering and geologic surveys into an increasingly complex story. There is nothing obvious about this land that will trigger a MEPA review from the Department of Environmental Protection, meaning IF WE DO NOT FIGHT THIS, NO ONE WILL BE SHOWING UP TO HELP.