If there’s one thing the public has made abundantly clear of late, it’s that they hate overdevelopment and especially all the new multifamily housing being built around town.

The discussion of overdevelopment dominates conversation in the public square, the local coffee shops and on social media. It’s a far greater concern than potholes or a few trees being cut down to build a new school.

The Zoning Board of appeals has gotten the message. Last week they took advantage of a “Safe Harbor” provision in state law to try and halt a 100-unit 40B proposal on Nahant Street.

But now, a new state Zoning Act will require MBTA communities (like Wakefield) to create at least one zoning district near public transit in which multi-family housing is allowed as of right. “As of right” means that a developer won’t have to bother obtaining a Special Permit, variance, zoning amendment, waiver, or other zoning approval from the town. He can just go ahead and build.

The multi-family housing district cannot be more than a one-half mile from a commuter rail station and must support a minimum gross density of 15 units per acre. The plan would allow up to four units in a three-story building with a height of up to 35 feet on a minimum lot size of 4,000 square feet.

The state mandate is bad enough. But why would some town officials want to purposely subject local neighborhoods to even more housing density than absolutely required?

Good question. But that’s exactly what’s happening.

The state’s motivation for doing this is no mystery. “Multi-family housing near transit creates walkable neighborhoods with climate and transportation benefits,” according to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities, “including better access to work/services, increased utilization of public transit and reduced reliance on single-occupancy vehicles.”

In other words, they’re destroying neighborhoods to save the planet.

We’ve come to expect these kinds of social engineering schemes from the state. Yet, for some reason Wakefield officials want to take it well beyond the state requirement, in spite of the anti-development mood of the town’s populace.

The local “Working Group” tasked with coming up with a compliance model for Wakefield has proposed a district that goes far beyond what is required by the state, both in geographical area and housing/population density.

Two members of the Working Group appeared before the Town Council last week to provide an update on their work.

Working Group Chairman Jim Hogan (also member of the Planning Board) and Wakefield Economic Development Director Erin Kokinda admitted that compliance with the state law could have been accomplished with a much smaller district than the one they are proposing. For Wakefield, the minimum size for this new multi-family zoning district would be 114 acres, but the Working Group is proposing a multi-family zoning district of 145.5 acres – much larger than required.

The Working Group’s plan would also allow 2,355 additional housing units to be created “by right,” even though the state only requires 1,696 additional units.

But three members of the Town Council pushed back against any plan that would increase housing density in town any more than necessary. Councilors Ed Dombroski, Mike McLane and Anne Danehy agreed that the plan made “no sense” and the town should be doing “the absolute minimum” to comply with the state mandate.

McLane added that increasing the town’s population in this manner would make it even harder to get to the 10 percent affordable housing threshold, subjecting the town to more and more 40B projects.

But at least two Town Councilors were all for the Working Group’s plan to increase housing density in Wakefield.

Globalist Councilor Julie Smith-Galvin (also a member of the Working Group) thinks the Working Group’s plan is just swell.

“This region needs more housing,” she said. “We need to be part of the solution.”

Town Council Chairman Jonathan Chines also praised the Working Group’s efforts.

Of course, neither Chines nor Smith-Galvin live anywhere near the districts that will be affected by this increased housing and population density. Smith-Galvin lives in Greenwood and Chines resides on the tony Upper West Side.

If people are serious about stopping overdevelopment in town, they had better get up to speed on this issue fast and speak up at the upcoming public meetings.

The Planning Board will hold public forums on the proposed plan on Nov. 14 and Dec. 12. The Working Group will present their plan to the Environmental Sustainability Committee on Nov. 9. Additional public presentations are planned for the spring of 2024 before an anticipated vote at the Annual Town Meeting in May.

Don’t say you weren’t warned.
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[This column originally appeared in the October 26, 2023 Wakefield Daily Item.]