LETTER: Resident Supports Article 1 At Saturday’s Special Town Meeting, Encourages Voters To Consider The Benefits

Dear Editor,

As residents prepare for the MBTA Communities Act special town meeting this Saturday, I encourage them to consider the possible benefits of the zoning changes we are being asked to approve.

While I wish the state had offered incentives to towns to increase housing production, rather than threatening to withhold benefits, the state’s actions do not necessarily make the proposed changes bad ones.

Wilmington’s planning staff has worked to carefully craft the location of the proposed multifamily zones to cover areas already developed with multifamily and to minimize impacts to existing single family zones. The proposed zones include Metro at Wilmington, Regency Place, and 100 West Street, which between them have 360 multifamily units that either already exist or are fully permitted. The proposed zones also include the recently opened self-storage facility on West Street, which seems unlikely to be redeveloped in the near future. As a result, rather than threatening massive future increases in the number of units, the new zones take advantage of much of what Wilmington has already done to provide attractive, flexible, and more varied housing near the highways and commuter rail, benefitting younger and older residents who cannot afford or do not want the burdens of a standard single family home.

Another multifamily zone is located at Deming Way, which is already owned by the Wilmington Housing Authority and comprises 69 existing units. Redevelopment, while expensive and thus probably unlikely in the foreseeable future, would provide more of the attractive yet affordable housing that supports those at different phases of life.

The remaining proposed multifamily district, the Main Street Mixed Use Sub-District, would run along the western side of Main Street between the road and railway tracks from the train station to the Hyundai dealership, and represents the biggest possible change (although the scope of any change would be limited by the narrow lot sizes and the presence of existing businesses). Any change that does result could help to bring foot traffic to support the more attractive Main Street with businesses such as Trader Joes that many residents desire. Permitting two story multifamily or two story multifamily over ground floor commercial in this zone would allow for developments similar to those that already exist across Main Street at the corners of Middlesex Avenue and Church Street. Those developments have increased the attractiveness of the area and provided in-town office and retail space supporting locals who do not want a daily commute.

As is often the case when multifamily (but oddly, seldom single family) development is discussed, opponents have raised concerns about the impacts to town services, particularly the schools. Any multifamily project will increase the assessed value of the property being redeveloped, resulting in increased tax revenue. Moreover, even in light of numerous single family and multifamily developments over the past dozen years, Wilmington public school enrollment has continued to drop, from 3732 students for the 2010-2011 school year to 2760 students for the 2023-2024 school year. Without an increase in population to stop the enrollment decline, the health of our school system could be called into question, threatening property values.

Sincerely,

Megan Coslick