I think it’s important to clarify how long the options being put forth to vote have been studied. The HCA proposals the HCAWG is asking the town to vote on have only been around for around 6 weeks (option C was presented at SOTT on Sept. 30th and options D1-D3 on Oct. 24th). The only real time to discuss any of the options was during the November 8th forums. Both forums were packed and many questions were left unanswered.
Compliance is not required until December 2024. Residents are asking for more time for discussion and learning, time we have. In the spirit of democracy, why not allow that time for discussion so residents can cast an informed vote? Up until August 2023, mixed use rezoning did not count towards HCA compliance. When the State changed the guidelines to allow mixed use, the HCAWG asked Utile to create our current Option C. It was voted on at SOTT on September 30th. Before this, rezoning the mall would have had to be presented separately. There were several mistakes in the (rushed) submission to the State that were corrected thanks to residents’ input. Options D1-D3 were presented to the public on Oct 24th. While the HCAWG has been meeting for a year (first meeting was in October 2022), the state guidelines keep changing. The MBTA requirement was reduced from 100% to 20%. MMU was added as an option (not requirement) in August of this year. Who is to say there aren’t other changes coming?
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