The Future of Ayer Road, Part 1

Introduction

The Ayer Road commercial corridor in Harvard, from the Route 2 interchange to the Ayer town line, is going to garner a bit of attention at Annual Town Meeting 2021. This is the first in a series of pieces that intends to shine a little light on the history of attempting to develop the area, why it really hasn't quite been done properly yet, and what the Planning Board is seeking to do about it this year. Part 1 will address the historical sketch, while parts 2 and 3 will address why things are the way they are now. For a more detailed background and analysis, including a good summary of the proposed program, please see this report.

A Little History

In order to fully appreciate the challenges facing the Ayer Road corridor, we need to take a step back in time and note the historical context. Until 1965, most of the Town of Harvard’s commercial properties were those located along Ayer Road, both north and south of Route 2, with others scattered in the town’s center and on major roadways. Other commercial uses were operated out of residences as in-home occupations, both legal and otherwise. At that time, there was no commercial zoning.

Recognizing that a commercial district was an important means to facilitate development that could add to the tax base, Annual Town Meeting of March 6, 1965 approved both the Commercial [C] district and the Business [B] district. In the years following the establishment of the B and C districts, some sporadic commercial development occurred including a small shopping center, office buildings, and several heavy commercial uses.

As part of the 2002 Master Plan project, the consultants prepared a document that included an Appendix A that was entitled, “A Zoning Diagnostic Evaluation for Harvard” which provided

Strange Recycling

Editor's Note: This is a recycling (no pun intended) of a blog post I published on another site in 2013, but it's still relevant. So, enjoy.

If you thought about all of the products you use and the waste these products generated, you might be surprised at the range of waste that does not get reused or recycled or even thought about.  That's why I wanted to put together this little think piece to go way out there and talk about some of the more esoteric and bizarre wastes and see if we can not only think about some even minor reuse for them but also get us to ponder our purchases more in relation to the waste it will result in.

Dryer Lint

Who has pulled the dryer lint off the screen and thought to themselves, "Hmm, there must be some use for this stuff..." ? Hell I thought about this question well before recycling or sustainability ever became mainstream, probably when I was doing laundry once a month in college.  The self-sufficiency blog Bacon and Eggs suggests using dryer lint for a variety of uses such as a fire-starter (provided no petroleum derivatives are a part of the stuff), doll and teddy bear stuffing, batting for quilts, stuffing for home-made cushions, crafts material, animal bedding or nesting material, or candle wicks.  I particularly like this recommendation:

"Take an empty toilet paper or paper towel roll and stuff it with old newspaper and dryer lint. Close up the ends and you have a great fire-starter.  Use it in your fireplace or put a couple in your stash for your next camping or hiking trip."

This article suggests using dryer lint for plant mulch, compost material, and

Will the Pandemic Open the Door Wider to ADUs?

Ever since This Old House built a backyard accessory dwelling unit (ADU) behind a stately house on Hubbard Street in Concord, MA (Season 25), it became clear to me that ADUs could be quite a bit more than just a tiny place to crash for college students or problematic Uncle Ray. This beautiful cottage would be a great place to live for most of us post-kid, and the tiny house industry has been maturing and creating a range of smaller dwellings that are decked out in high-end finishes.But as a Bloomberg article notes, ADUs could be poised to experience a new niche, to serve as safe spaces for a parent or family member during the Covid-19 emergency. Of course, these types of units have long served as spaces for those cohorts, but the emergency has made this option much more attractive and perhaps urgent, for those who can afford them, of course.

Another recent article in the New York Times is explicit about the value of ADUs during a pandemic and that one's parents could be significant beneficiaries of having one. Having a secure and safe place for parents or other loved ones rather than dependency on a less than intimate corporate facility is very attractive to many families as the piece indicates.Two key challenges noted both in the NYT article and a book the article cites, Backyard Revolution: The Definitive Guide to ADU Development by Kol Peterson, are local regulatory impediments and cost, with some overlap between the two. 

Local zoning may create barriers including the permitting process which may require a special permit, requirements that the property owner live on the site consistently, limits on who may live in the units, size limitations, minimum property sizes, and other criteria. Financing ADUs can be a challenge, especially with all of the limits placed on the units and who may occupy them. Harvard has allowed two different types of ADUs, conventional and affordable, but the market has not yet taken advantage of these local options. In the spring of 2021, the Harvard Planning Board will be proposing several amendments to the Protective Bylaw that will make it easier to build ADUs for seniors. One measure increases the size of an ADU from 1200 s.f. to 1500 s.f. since many seniors have expressed a desire for housing that is of at least that size. Second, Harvard will be encouraging housing built according to age-appropriate design criteria which includes at least one zero-step entrance, doorways with a 36-inch clear passage space, and several other measures.

While this measure is just one of several upcoming amendments to be proposed to increase senior housing opportunities, it could be an important one for those seniors who want to remain close to their families and have a measure of independence and privacy in a familiar set of surroundings. For further information about all of the steps the Planning Board plans to consider related to senior housing, visit the project web page HERE.

It's Time to Bring Up Climate Change Again

Overshadowed by topics like politics, pandemic, racism, and curious conspiracy theories, talking about or even thinking about climate change seems passe. We don't have the current bandwidth for something less than immediate and not always tangible. But as some of these issues seem to be either improving, seeming hopeful, being talked about, or slightly diminishing from the newsfeed, it seems like a good opportunity to pick up the megaphone and see if we can get some attention again on a subject that will have the gravest of consequences if not immediately and aggressively addressed by all sectors.

Many of you may have heard about and some may have followed the work of the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Subcommittee of the Harvard Energy Advisory Committee (HEAC). Admittedly, this name was a mouthful and not very descriptive. The State's MVP program was established to help Massachusetts communities become more resilient and sustainable in the face of anticipated climate change impacts. The program provided grant funding for cities and towns to develop prioritization plans which once completed and submitted to the State, gave an official MVP Community status to the Town of Harvard and also gave us eligibility for additional funding in the form of MVP action grants. Harvard became an MVP Community in September of 2019 and the MVP Subcommittee ceased to exist by design.

Following MVP certification, Harvard applied for and received MVP Action Grant Funding for a comprehensive climate action plan. A new MVP group named the Community Resilience Working Group (CRWG) was formed as a Planning Board subcommittee to continue working on MVP matters. However, MVP funding received was less than 50% of what was requested and then COVID-19 hit. Yet, CRWG persevered, received a complete climate action plan for agriculture, and an outline and outreach materials for completing the remainder of a local plan. Soon thereafter, Harvard partnered with the Town of Bolton and Devens on a project entitled Apple Country Nature Based Solutions. This project, currently wrapping up, looked at farms, turf fields, wetlands, and forests for ideas regarding nature-based solutions for protection of these resources. You can see the work of the project HERE.

This brought us to the end of 2020 when the Working Group had to say farewell to the initial Chair, and welcome a new one. We formed three project-oriented working groups to focus on three priority areas: the Apple Country project, furthering the development of the climate action plan, and conducting outreach to gain greater public visibility and participation.

As we are slowly seeing the light at the end of the tunnel regarding the pandemic, we are hoping to get some of your attention regarding the topic generally and what the CRWG is doing specifically. The Group has had a municipal website HERE since the beginning, admittedly traffic is similar to a Sunday night blizzard, but we try to keep it up to date and welcome your suggestions. We also maintain a page for the climate action plan project HERE.

While under construction, the CRWG is developing a more robust website that should be available for prime time fairly soon and we'll also have a Facebook and Instagram presence. We also have a new email address at harvardmaclimate [at] gmail [dot] com so if you are interested in the topic of climate change or community sustainability, please drop a line and introduce yourself. We also encourage you to visit our current and future web presences and join in the discussion on Facebook and other social media platforms as they emerge.

Finally, just a sampling of some of the projects we'll be working on in the near future include environmental forums and workshops, videos on topics like seeds and gardening, forestry, stream crossings and stormwater, emergency preparedness, and a reading group, in addition to the more administrative work like the outreach efforts.