Wayland Housing Partnership to ask town manager about surplus land

WAYLAND — May 3, 2023 — Wayland Housing Partnership to press town departments for surplus land. At its May 3 remote meeting, the partnership tapped member Rachel Bratt to draft a letter to the new town manager asking whether School Committee, Park and Recreation and other town-owned parcels could be declared surplus to help meet the roughly 50 acres needed under the state's MBTA Communities mandate. Chair Mary Antes cited four Habitat for Humanity units built on a former DPW parcel as precedent. Member Jim Grumbach said the town is still awaiting a state project eligibility letter for the St. Anne's 40B, which would push Wayland past the 10 percent Subsidized Housing Inventory threshold and strengthen its hand against a denser Mill Creek proposal that realtor Joanne Berry told Antes "will not fly well in Wayland." The board also agreed to revisit the 2005 inclusionary zoning bylaw's 16.7 percent affordability requirement.