Monday at the annual town meeting (ATM) Steve Dragotakes asked about what town owned land was currently for sale, and Select Board chair Murby mentioned the land at the former Medfield State Hospital site known as Parcel B which is South of Hospital Road where a basketball facility was recently proposed – shown as The South Field on the above plan.
For me the primary town property I would like to see monetized first is not that Parcel B which are beautiful open fields and woods, but rather the land that the Medfield State Hospital Master Planning Committee called The Arboretum. The Arboretum is about 12 acres that contains the former employee homes around the Stonegate entrance (the entrance nearest the downtown).
I suggest the town should first seek to sell The Arboretum after the Trinity Financial project is built, as then The Arboretum land will substantially increase in value. In the interim, I would suggest that the town change the zoning on that land from the sparse density the Medfield State Hospital Master Planning Committee placed on it, so as to permit more dense development and add more to its sale value.
We all want to preserve open space, but to me the open space I treasure at the former Medfield State Hospital site are the fields surrounding the already built areas, and I am not bothered by building greater density in the already built areas.
I see Old Village Square off of RTE 27 as a model for the density and curb appeal of what could go in The Arboretum. Old Village Square nets the town a large net profit of real estate taxes over municipal costs each year – maybe $600,000/year. The Arboretum developed in a similar manner could add maybe $1,000,000/year to our tax base without much town cost. My path to lowering our high residential real estate taxes is more via building housing that has minimal municipal costs, instead of looking to more business, commercial or industrial development – which few developers seem to want to locate in Medfield.
Posted onDecember 23, 2024|Comments Off on 3 Harding Street Intersection Options
VHB has provided the town its analysis of the suggested options for the three Harding Street intersections that are to be redone as part of the Medfield State Hospital site redevelopment:
At Hospital Road – 3 options.
At West Street – 2 options.
At North Street – 3 options.
These will be discussed at the Select Board meeting on January 7 and voted on January 21.
My choices are, for the combined reasons of safety and traffic flow:
3 way stop at Harding and Hospital – allows Hospital traffic to turn left in AM.
West Street stop.
Roundabout at North Street – safety and traffic flow justify the added cost.
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Former Town Planner, Sarah Raposa, had put the Medfield State Hospital project in for the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Planning Association’s 2024 Community of the Year Award for our work on the reuse and development of the former Medfield State Hospital site. Town Administrator, Kristine Trierweiler and Sarah traveled to Sturbridge this week to pick up the award.
The Medfield State Hospital and Steve Nolan were both honored a few years ago for the Medfield State Hospital project as well, the posting about which can be found by searching this blog. From memory Steve Nolan was the APA Massachusetts Chapter Volunteer of the Year at that time for his work chairing the Medfield State Hospital reuse committee.
Posted onNovember 13, 2024|Comments Off on APA awards Medfield its “2024 Community of the Year Award” for our MSH project
November 13, 2024 Sarah Raposa, AICP Planning Director – Town of Mansfield, MA Re: 2024 APA-MA Awards Dear Sarah, Congratulations! The American Planning Association – Massachusetts Chapter (APA-MA) Awards Committee has selected the Town of Medfield to receive the 2024 Community of the Year Award. Thank you for your efforts on this most worthwhile submittal! This award will be formally presented at the APA-MA Annual Awards & Holiday Luncheon on Friday December 13, 2024, from 12:00 pm-2:00 pm at the Publick House, Sturbridge. As part of this award designation, the APA-MA Chapter is providing two complimentary admissions to the award luncheon. Please register individually (use the Awardee/Guest category) by December 4th as this event is always at capacity. Again, congratulations and I look forward to seeing you on December 13th. Sincerely, Alison LeFlore Alison LeFlore, AICP APA-MA President cc: 2024 APA-MA Awards Committee
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This was the Town of Medfield submittal:
Medfield State Hospital (MSH): A Decade of Acquisition, Planning, Disposition, and Redevelopment
● Summary of the project’s or planner’s qualification (one-page maximum). The Town of Medfield has exhibited relentless and exemplary community planning techniques since acquiring the former Medfield State Hospital property from the Commonwealth in 2014, which closed the facility in 2003. With the purchase of MSH, the Town accepted the challenge of re-purposing this scenic, historic National Register-listed former state hospital grounds overlooking the Charles River.
The Town spent four years working on the reuse master plan; an arduous endeavor which is truly paying off! The MSH Strategic Reuse Master Plan was recognized by MA APA (in 2018) and APA STAR (in 2019) because it represented the consensus vision for future land use at the state hospital with an active community core, including the campus chapel and nearby buildings to be converted into an arts and culture center with multi-family residential, senior housing, and commercial uses. The plan calls for preserving public access and open space, preservation of as many of the historic buildings as is feasible, programming and uses that will draw town residents to the site, and limited development of new structures so as not to impact the overall character of the site and the town.
Medfield’s dedication to the implementation of the Plan has been demonstrated in the following ways: passage of the enabling zoning bylaws in 2019, an informal request for information process informing the future town solicitation which received two responses; one highlighting the value of good planning while not offering much money and one offering a lot of money for the demolition of the historic buildings. In deliberating the preferred response and ultimately overwhelmingly supporting the master plan-focused response, community leaders and voters signified a dedication to the values they spent years articulating.
The Town and Trinity Financial continue to work as partners through the two-phased permitting process as having certain approvals assisted the developer in securing financing and other funding to move towards the actual purchase of the property and construction (anticipated to begin in 2025).
● Explanation demonstrating how the project or planner meets the awards criteria as detailed above (three-page maximum). The overall goal is to develop a comprehensive and coordinated vision for the sustainable redevelopment and reuse of the Medfield State Hospital. The Strategic Reuse Master Plan for Medfield State Hospital was developed to synthesize Medfield’s aspirations and to create a framework to guide future development. The Town sought to optimize three key priorities:
Maintain and enhance the character and values of the Town of Medfield and its residents, including the site’s scenic and natural features, spaces for passive and active recreation, and the site’s cultural, historic, agricultural and architectural significance.
Address Town housing needs, which may include smaller-footprint housing that is affordable for Medfield residents who are downsizing and would like to stay in Medfield, or any housing that brings more diversity into Medfield’s housing stock, in alignment with the Town’s Housing Production Plan.
Achieve reasonable economic and financial impacts on Medfield residents and Town services, assuring that the master plan is in the Town’s economic best interests.
Once completed and generally accepted, the Town pivoted from a planning committee to the MSH Development Committee (MSHDC or DC) with the sole purpose of disposing of the MSH property. The Committee worked with the former MHSMPC, Select Board, and Planning Board to pass the enabling zoning at a special town meeting in the fall of 2019. Simultaneously, the DC drafted a request for information and worked with the five respondents on evaluating the property for a formal RFP process which informed STM voters on the likelihood of a future viable project. The Town of Medfield released a Request for Proposals for the Medfield State Hospital on April 5, 2021. The Request for Proposals was developed by the Medfield State Hospital Development Committee prior to submission to the Medfield Board of Selectmen. The Town received two proposals, which represented bookends of potential development scenarios. One consisted of demolition and construction of new apartment buildings and the other proposed historic preservation and adherence to the objectives outlined in the master plan. Interviews with both developers were recorded and broadcast via YouTube. The two proposals were evaluated by the Medfield State Hospital Development Committee. On November 2, 2021, the Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to designate the proposal submitted by Trinity Financial of Boston, MA as the most advantageous proposal. The Board of Selectmen further authorized the MSHDC to negotiate a provisional development agreement with Trinity Financial for its review. On March 22, 20222, the Board of Selectmen voted to name an affiliate of Trinity Financial as the designated developer of the Medfield State Hospital and enter into a Provisional Designation Agreement with Trinity. This designation, which was provisional, kicked off a period of additional due diligence for both parties ahead of a Special Town Meeting in June 2022, when voters considered whether to approve a proposed sale of portions of the hospital campus. During this period of due diligence, Trinity had access to the Medfield State Hospital buildings and grounds for continued evaluation of existing conditions, to conduct environmental assessments and other studies, and to further develop its proposal for the campus. Simultaneously, the MSHDC initiated its next phase of evaluation of the proposal, including an updated analysis of impacts and benefits to the Medfield community. Trinity’s proposal is intended to fund all of the project’s infrastructure costs as part of the construction and according to Trinity’s projections is expected to generate over $700,000 per year in net tax revenues to the Town once it is complete. The special town meeting (STM) on June 21, 2022 went quickly, and resulted in a virtually unanimous vote to proceed with the Land Disposition Agreement (LDA) with Trinity Financial to build 334 units of rental apartments (25% affordable) in the existing buildings at the former Medfield State Hospital site. The Board of Selectmen and Trinity signed the LDA after the meeting and Trinity began preparing for its permitting process.
● Representation: ✔ Puts MSH on the tax rolls for the first time o Trinity estimate is ~$700,000 annually (net) o Town will recover more than the $4.5 million spent to date o No cash outlay by the Town/taxpayers ✔ Resolves environmental and physical condition of buildings at no cost to Town – and removes liability ✔ Adds housing consistent with Town objectives o Puts Town over 40B threshold for foreseeable future ✔ Leaves open space open and in Town control ✔ Complementary with proposed Cultural Arts Center o Contributions toward construction and programming o Lend development expertise ✔ Generally consistent with 2018 Master Plan o Specifically attempting to meet Town’s stated goals ✔ Intended to comply with zoning adopted by Special Town Meeting in 2019 by more than 2/3 vote. o Campus setting o Historic preservation; building design and massing o Infrastructure o Landscaping and improved streetscape
● How has the nominee promoted the cause and advanced the merits of planning? Nothing exemplifies the merits of planning more than a near-unanimous approval of approximately 700 voters at an open town meeting. Back in 2014, as Medfield’s residents contemplated the question of whether they wanted to acquire the Medfield State Hospital property from the state, the rallying cry in favor of the town buying the property was that the purchase would allow the town to “control its own destiny.”
As evidenced by the MSH Master Planning Committee spending four years soliciting opinions, ideas, and feedback from town residents on what they would like to see the town do with the state hospital property; the results of that comprehensive effort were documented in the award-winning Medfield State Hospital Strategic Reuse Master Plan. At the 2019 Special Town Meeting, the town confirmed its support for the master plan by voting to adopt special zoning requirements to ensure that redevelopment would be consistent with the intentions of the master plan. The town established the MSH Development Committee to move forward with the process of redevelopment per the approved zoning requirements. The committee spent its first year vetting the hospital master plan and zoning requirements with the real estate development community to confirm that they reflected what Medfield’s residents wanted and presented an economically viable opportunity for real estate developers. The result of that investigation confirmed that there was an economically viable opportunity from the development community’s perspective.
With that affirmation in hand. The Development Committee spent two years (with welcome financial help and general advice from the state through Mass Development) putting together a responsibly structured, disciplined, and open process for identifying potential qualified developers; soliciting and evaluating developer proposals; and negotiating a contract with the selected developer, Trinity Acquisitions LLC, to carry out a redevelopment project on the property. Throughout this process, Medfield’s residents have had continuing opportunities to review progress and provide feedback. While it is impossible to give everybody everything they want, town residents recognize the efforts the MSH Development Committee, along with the MSH Master Planning Committee that preceded it, have made to satisfy as many people in town as possible during this process. These committees have done their best to enable the town of Medfield to “control its own destiny.”
Medfield State Hospital has been an integral factor defining the identity and character of Medfield since the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Medfield’s caring town culture largely resulted from the town’s awareness of, and involvement with, the residents of the state hospital over the years it was operating. But that alone doesn’t account for the full significance of the state hospital to the town. Medfield’s agricultural roots can be found at the state hospital, along with its connections to the arts. The redevelopment of the hospital campus, proposed by Trinity, offers the opportunity to maintain connections with all of that by updating those purposes to reflect the needs and uses of Medfield today. Trinity’s proposed project enables us to repurpose the historic resource for new uses that link to past uses. The destiny chosen for Medfield reflects the preferences expressed over the several years since acquiring the hospital property from the state.
● Document support of the project, plan or planner through materials related to public outreach or letter(s) of recommendation. The public participation and engagement undertaken in the development of the MSH Strategic Reuse Master Plan involved all members of the Medfield community – town government activists, high school students, fiscal hawks, preservationists, cultural advocates, recreation and sports advocates, senior citizens, new residents and old-timers, and residents from all geographic areas of Medfield. The public participation in the MSH Strategic Reuse Master Plan was significantly more robust than most state hospital reuse initiatives.
Thousands of people were involved, using a wide range of engagement formats, from social media, its website, surveys, walking tours, meetings, community workshops, open houses, and participation in the annual Medfield Day events. During the three-and-a-half-year planning period, the MSHMPC hosted an informational website (www.mshvision.net, subsequently migrated to the Town’s website), the primary information portal for all things Medfield State Hospital.
The MSHDC implemented the following suite of public engagement techniques in during the solicitation and disposition process: dedicated webpage containing information on and links to the 6 public forums with presentations; due diligence and peer reviews covering: fiscal impact analysis, Traffic Report, Market Study, Utilities & Infrastructure, Environmental Assessment, Hazardous Materials Report, Regulatory Compliance, and Peregrine Group’s review of financial documentation related to Trinity Financial; 11 MSH Redevelopment Newsletters focusing on The Disposition Process, Selling & Keeping, Historic Preservation, Trinity’s Proposal, MSH Q&A, Due Diligence Reports, Save the Date & More Q&A, Trinity Due Diligence Q&A, Water & Sewer, Traffic, Schools, and Fiscal Impact, A Letter from the Chair of our Board of Selectmen; Planning Board approval process phase I for site plan approval and inclusionary zoning special permit (2023), Planning Board approval process phase II for stormwater permitting, submittal of final site plan documents (landscaping, lighting, master signage, etc), and subdivision of land (anticipated 2024-2025)
● 1-3 photos (.jpg format) representative of the project or plan, with an individual file size of no more than 1 Megabytes.
Town Administrator, Kristine Trierweiler shared her Summer 2024 TOWN ADMINISTRATOR UPDATE with Select Board at our meeting on Tuesday, and I especially wanted to share the part below in blue font which is a follow up about the planned improvements to the West Street and RTE 27 intersection. At the Select Board meeting, Kris shared that in her meeting with MASSDOT that the state said that if Medfield builds the roundabout, as the state wants, that the state would find the town all of the monies to construct the roundabout. Whereas if we opt to install a traffic light, we will have to pay the entire $1.9m. cost on out own dime, as we will lose the $1.3m. Federal earmark.
To be clear, this Select Board member preferred the roundabout from the outset. It was the other two Select Board members who said they preferred the traffic light and who asked to have Kris pursue the traffic light option with the state.
The town now has the roundabout, which the MASSDOT traffic engineers say is the safest alternative, available to the town at no cost, versus a less safe traffic light option that will cost the town $1.9m. – should be an easy choice. If the town builds the traffic lights, your family’s share would be $4-5,000.
West Street and Route 27 Project Update
Maurice Goulet, Director of Public Works and I met with Beta Engineering and the MADOT engineering team to discuss the two different paths forward for the project as requested by the Select Board. For the first path, MADOT has confirmed that if we would like to utilize the 1.3 million dollar earmark we would have to continue with the MADOT process and that would include the consideration of a roundabout for this location. The total cost of that project is $1.9, however, MADOT indicated they would assist the Town in securing the remaining funding. MADOT believes that this location would benefit from a roundabout design. The next step if the Select Board elects this option is to go to the 25% design threshold.
Posted onMarch 4, 2023|Comments Off on Trinity Financial’s submission to Planning Board for 3/6 hearing
From: Sarah Raposa <sraposa@medfield.net> Date: March 3, 2023 at 4:26:17 PM EST To: Lisa Mead Subject:Trinity Submission Updates for Monday
BCC to PB and FYI to others – Please see HERE for Trinity’s latest submission for Monday’s Planning Board meeting. I hope you find the cover letter with matrix helpful. The information is also being posted on the Planning Board’s webpage and shared with the Longmeadow/Evergreen folks.
Medfield and its partners have been very successful and preserving land and developing recreation and trails, most recently the new Medfield Rail Trail. Town Meeting, our amazing volunteers, and our generous partners have made this possible.
We know, however, that we can do more to make these and future resources available to our residents.
Please join us as we chart our course for the next seven years.
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You are invited to a Zoom webinar. When: This is a recurring webinar Topic: Open Space and Recreation Planning Committee
Or Telephone: Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location): US: +1 301 715 8592 or +1 309 205 3325 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 646 931 3860 or +1 929 436 2866 or +1 564 217 2000 or +1 669 444 9171 or +1 669 900 6833 or +1 689 278 1000 or +1 719 359 4580 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 346 248 7799 or +1 360 209 5623 or +1 386 347 5053 or +1 507 473 4847 Webinar ID: 824 5484 4505 Passcode: 738641 International numbers available: https://medfield-net.zoom.us/u/kd6QUk57vs
Posted onMay 17, 2022|Comments Off on TOMCAP workshop this Thursday at 7 PM
From the Medfield Energy Committee – Learn the details of the draft Town of Medfield Climate Action Plan (TOMCAP). At the annual town meeting (ATM) last year the town voted as a town goal to have the town achieve Net Zero by 2050, and since then the Medfield Energy Committee has been working diligently to plan out how that can get done. A draft Climate Action Plan is now ready for release and to share. Participate in this interactive workshop this Thursday, May 19 at 7 PM to craft the final details of the Climate Action Plan for your town.
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Posted onMay 3, 2022|Comments Off on TOMCAP release imminent – Workshop on 5/19
TOMCAP, the Town of Medfield Climate Action Plan, has been drafted & will be available for public comment soon.
A public workshop on TOMCAP will be facilitated by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council on May 19th at 7PM in the Dale Street School cafeteria. All Medfield residents are invited to learn about the plan and comment on it before it is finalized.
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I started this blog to share the interesting and useful information that I saw while doing my job as a Medfield select board member. I thought that my fellow Medfield residents would also find that information interesting and useful as well. This blog is my effort to assist in creating a system to push the information out from the Town House to residents. Let me know if you have any thoughts on how it can be done better.
For information on my other job as an attorney (personal injury, civil litigation, estate planning and administration, and real estate), please feel free to contact me at 617-969-1500 or Osler.Peterson@OslerPeterson.com.
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